


Terminarch

by RockyMountainRattlesnake



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alien Culture, Amusement Parks, Angst, Artificial Intelligence, BAMF Rose Tyler, Episode Style, Established Relationship, Evil Corporations, Extinction, F/M, Humor, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Someone help Nine, Swearing, Telepathic Bond, Zoo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 62,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27140248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RockyMountainRattlesnake/pseuds/RockyMountainRattlesnake
Summary: Endling:an individual living thing that is the last survivor of its species or subspecies and whose death consequently means the extinction of that species or subspecies.At a zoo for the endlings of the universe, Team TARDIS find themselves tangled in a twisted web of atrocities that stretches back years. People are vanishing, the all-controlling AI is acting up...and the computer's sights are set squarely on the Doctor.If they can't put a stop to the Terminarch corporation's evil machinations, Rose and the Doctor will be torn apart. Forever.Updates Fridays.
Relationships: Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 117
Kudos: 130





	1. Chapter 1

The Doctor poked his head out of the TARDIS and sighed audibly.

“This is where the alert’s coming from,” he said, stepping out and looking around.

“And where is here, exactly?” Rose said, a second behind. She frowned and looked out at the alien planet around them, then back at where the TARDIS sat.

She was parked amid an ocean of asphalt, perfectly square inside a parking space that looked like it would fit a car on Earth. Right inside the yellow lines, a perfect parking job. On all sides, dotted about the place, were hundreds upon hundreds of ships of all shapes and sizes, with more slowly descending from the blue sky above onto the kilometers-wide parking lot.

“…It’s a car park,” Rose said, underwhelmed, “All of time and space, and you’ve brought us…to a car park.”

“What’s a car park- oh.” Jack said, stepping out a second behind, his face falling, “Doc, gonna second Rose’s assessment: this is a parking lot. What, and I mean this nicely, the fuck?”

“Don’t know,” the Doctor said, turning to look down the rows. In the distance, perhaps a few kilometers away, they could see rollercoasters and brightly-painted buildings that stretched on for mile after mile, past the shimmering heat waves that rose off the baking tarmac.

“Looks like an amusement park,” The Doctor said, quirking an eyebrow, “That’s a new one. Never got a mauve alert from one of these before…”

“So are we- supposed to walk?” Jack said, “I mean, not that I’m opposed-“

Rose glared at him, because she knew that Jack’s eyes were already fixed on the Doctor’s ass. This wasn’t his first time “bringing up the rear”.

“Don’t think so.” The Doctor gestured at a little tram that was buzzing up to them, no driver and no windows, just some seats.

“Hello there!” a recorded message played, the white cart stopping beside them; it was a little bus with a roof and no windows, several rows of seats for guests to sit in, “Please take a teleport token and affix it to your vehicle, and keep the connector stub for later! Thank you!”

A slot on the side of the cart spat out two things- an octagonal token with a strange symbol like a ship on it, and another one that was just a fob on a keyring. The Doctor grabbed the fob and stuffed it in his pocket, and with a shrug, stuck the octagon on the side of his TARDIS.

And winced. She sent him the mental equivalent of a slap upside the head, then went to go sulk.

She always did get a bit touchy about the paint job.

With that done, the little cart played one of those incredibly annoying jingles, and the three of them looked at each other.

“Please climb aboard!” it played after a pause, the typical message for dullards and simpletons.

The Doctor shrugged and hopped aboard, scooting over so Rose could sit next to them, and Jack taking the seat behind. He reached out and grabbed Rose’s hand, entwining their fingers together, and smiling at her.

They’d been working on bonding telepathically for weeks, and the hard work was starting to pay off. Rose had been nervous at first, but after he’d explained how important it was to him and how essential a step in a relationship it was for his people, she’d been a lot more eager to try it.

Building a telepathic bond was a slow process, a labour of love that took two to make work. No two bonds were ever the same, and theirs was shaping up to be a thing of beauty. Rose had woven in various stops and blocks that they could both put up if they needed it- an essential step when forging a bond, and he’d trusted her with that essential task.

Right now, he could feel the warmth of her love and curiosity trickling across, tickling at his mind. She wasn’t skilled enough to send words or thoughts- yet. The bond would strengthen, and she would get better.

Rose closed her eyes, then, and he could feel her determination spike up- and sharply wane, as she activated the block. It stopped up the flow, and even though they were touching, he still couldn’t feel her.

The Doctor swelled with pride as she eased off and reopened their connection. 

Through the bond, he could feel a humming pulse of Rose’s discomfort. The air on this planet was warmer than she was used to; a sweltering heat that was cloying and overpowering.

If the telepathic sendings weren’t enough of a clue, the sweat rolling off her brow would have been enough for him. The Doctor shifted in the plastic seat uncomfortably- it was admittedly quite muggy and humid. Something was up with this planet’s atmosphere.

“S’too bloody hot here,” Rose muttered, wiping some sweat off her brow.

“Guests are reminded that profanity is strongly discouraged within the park boundaries!” the little tram chirped, and the Doctor scowled at it.

“How about fuck off?” he asked it with a fake grin, sonic screwdriver falling into his fingertips.

“Guests are reminded-BZZZZZZT”

And with a little buzz, the trip continued in blessed silence.

Jack sighed. “Hope the guide-bots aren’t as stuck up as this thing, or that sonic of yours is gonna get a workout…” he shifted in his seat, and something beside his arse crunched.

Jack lifted up the trifold pamphlet with a map of the park, unfolding it and taking a look.

He raised an eyebrow.

“What’s that, Jack?” Rose asked, “Huh, wow, wasn’t expecting to see a pamphlet in…what century are we in?”

“Sixty-third,” the Doctor muttered, “What’s it say?”

Jack scanned over it.

“We’re at the Noazarc Zoological Society Species Refuge and Theme Park. Apparently.” He said, glancing up.

“…Species refuge?” the Doctor groaned, “Oh, not another zoo…I can’t stand them...”

“Well, what if they’re close to extinction?” Rose countered, “Isn’t it safer to keep them in a zoo where you can breed them, maybe bring them back?”

“Everything has its time, and everything dies.” The Doctor said quietly, huffing out a sigh, “What else?”

“It’s also got a small theme park. Nothing much to see…and they don’t even have a log ride. That’s unacceptable…in any century.” Jack said, wiping some sweat off his brow, “Especially in a place that’s this fucking hot. Where the hell ARE we?”

“Space-Florida.” Rose quipped miserably.

The little cart trundled on a bit farther, and the Doctor looked at the map Jack had spread out. The amusement park was crassly called _Yesterdayland,_ with rides themed around various famous extinct species. The Thylacine Coaster was a particularly _classy_ touch, as was the Dodo Dropper.

His eyes drifted away from the small amusement park, tacked on to the side of the main thoroughfare like an afterthought to make the company more money. He sighed at the twee drawing of the hundreds of acres of land covered in connected buildings- that was the Zoo part. NOAZARC ENDLING SANCTUARY it said in block capitals, prompting the Doctor to shiver a little. Endlings? Oh boy.

“We’ll start with the zoo,” he said, rubbing his face and doing his best to not show emotion on his face, “Because nothing ever happens at theme parks. The bloody Cybermen aren’t going to invade a theme park or something, that would be daft…”

“The who?” Rose asked, folding her arms.

The Doctor waved her off. “Nothing. Doesn’t matter. We’re almost there, look.”

The little tram pulled up to the gates, where there stood a crush of people in a mile-long line, waiting to purchase their overpriced tickets.

The Doctor just shrugged, pulled a few unlimited credit sticks he’d pinched at the last spaceport they’d visited, and lead his two companions towards the nearly-empty express lane.

The man standing there had bright orange scales and was panting under his heavy black uniform, but at the sight of the Doctor’s winning smile and psychic paper he was practically tripping over himself to direct them.

“Imperial Consul Theta Sigma and associates!” he chirped, “Please, right this way, straight to the express booth. Thank you very much for gracing us with your presence. Have a wonderful day!”

The Doctor scowled at the paper. Hold on, now, Theta Sigma? Well, maybe it was a good idea to give a fake name for a bit, but-

“Theta Sigma?” Rose echoed, a grin on her face, “Somethin’ you’re not tellin’ us, Doctor?”

“Long story,” he said gruffly. One that involved the Corsair and enough rum-and-ginger to knock out a triceratops.

The other mates in his frat hadn’t helped at all.

The Doctor managed to hustle them to the gates, buying them three all-access passes with all the trimmings- it included, he noted dimly, backstage access to visit “preferred exhibits” which, what did that even mean?

“Thank you so much!” the smiling Trydarian said with a few cheerful clucks, “Here’s your map of the grounds. Will you be wanting a tour of the exhibits, sir? The next one starts in half an hour.”

The Doctor nodded. “Yeah. We’ll take a tour.”

“Excellent. Tours are through the gates, and they meet by the front entrance to the exhibits- if you hurry, you should make it. Thanks for coming to the Noazarc Species Refuge and Theme Park! Have a wonderful day!”

The Doctor stared at her and shrugged, handing Jack and Rose their lanyards and staring at his. Memories of the Siltheen flitted into his head, and he instead decided to tuck it into his trouser pocket.

Rose, he noted, had done the same thing, and she sidled up behind him with a big smile, taking his hand.

The Doctor sighed happily. Alright, so he was at a giant zoo (which he hated) and something here had sent out a code mauve, but…

His pink-and-yellow human was smiling at him he was holding her hand, so really, the day could be worse.

Even if he could feel Jack’s eyes digging into his asscheeks.

* * *

The walk was long. Very, very long.

They passed by the entrance to the amusement-park part of the grounds, screaming children and laughing families and people having a good time overlaid on the sounds of clacking carnival rides and thundering rollercoasters.

Rose clung to the Doctor’s side, and Jack had migrated to her other side.

“S’too hot,” Rose panted as they walked, the zoo buildings still looming in the distance on the red brick road. Jack just nodded in agreement, slugging from the canteen he kept with him on hot planets and trying not to complain, but the heat was starting to get to him too.

The Doctor looked around for something he could use to cool his companion off, and his eyes fell on a stand selling ice cream by the side of the main path. It had a cool mist showering from the awning, and hundreds of flavours flashing on the holo-board. Perfect. He fished a credit stick out of his pocket and handed it to Rose, gesturing at the stand.

“You two go get some ice cream an’ cool off. Don’t want to have to drag you back to the TARDIS ‘cause you got heatstroke.”

Rose just nodded, dragging Jack towards the stand, and leaving the Doctor in the middle of the wide brick path with his hands in his pockets. He wasn’t hungry, and his superior biology was keeping him nice and cool- Rose was no doubt expecting the Oncoming Lecture about precisely that. Before he could mentally draft said lecture, though, he needed something to lean against with his arms folded. Obviously.

Rose walked back to him a second later, looking a little forlorn.

“I want to try the ‘lavender London fog’ flavour, but they won’t let me without ID. Does it have alcohol in it, or…?”

The Doctor snorted and dug out his psychic paper, handing it over to Rose.

“Nah. Just the TARDIS being a bit loose with her translation. They ask for ID because one of the ingredients in that is intoxicating to a couple of species in this quadrant. Here, go get yourself some, it’s just a tasty treat for humans.” He said with a smile, shooing her off with a little flick of his hand.

As Rose bounced back to get herself a unique flavour, the Doctor turned his attention back to his surroundings.

The path had a row of black streetlights down the middle of it with a fork at the top so the lights hung down on both sides; the Doctor selected a nearby pole for his leaning, folding his arms expectantly and looking around. 

Nearby to the Doctor was a large steel cabinet rooted into the ground and painted cheery colours to try and make it blend in with the rest of the park. Something for managing the lights or some other bit of circuitry in the park’s grid, no doubt. And as he leaned on his post in what he thought was a cool and intimidating manner, two men in plain grey jumpsuits walked up and started fussing with the contents of the cabinet, immediately catching the Doctor’s attention.

“Fuckin’ Terry,” one of the men muttered, “He’s been on the fritz for weeks now. I checked this box fucking yesterday and it’s FINE. He’s messin’ with our schedules on purpose, I’m tellin’ ya Tom.”

The Doctor did his level best to look like he wasn’t eavesdropping while also straining his ample ears to hear as much disgruntled employee gossip as he possibly could.

“Don’t let the boss catch you sayin’ that,” Tom said calmly, “You start beaking off about how darlin’ Terry is anythin’ less than perfect, you’ll be out on your ass with a pink slip that same day.”

“Yeah, well,” the first guy replied, sitting back and plugging in a diagnostic computer, “He’s doing weird shit, an’ I’m starting to get worried. I can’t believe they let him control every part of the park. That was a bad idea six months ago and it’s a bad idea now. Someone’s gonna get hurt.”

“Yeah. I put in my resignation yesterday. I’m gonna put in a word with my union tomorrow. Maybe Hedgewick’s needs a mechanic. Anything’s better than working for this…lot.” Tom muttered.

“Did you really see...in the basement…?”

“Did I fucking ever. The lights broke and I had to go into the enclosure to fix them. She was lookin’ at me the whole time, I swear. I hope they get fucking shut down. It’s a sin, is what it is.” Tom sighed, “Nothin’ we can do, though. They got the money, we’re just peons.”

“I feel that.” The first guy replied.

Rose and Jack ambled back towards the Doctor, and Tom finally noticed that they had an audience.

The Doctor locked eyes with Tom, blue eyes meeting blue; Tom was an older human male with a silver moustache that joined with his beard, wearing a faded cap for a sports team with his uniform. They stared at each other for a moment, before the maintenance men swiftly packed up their tools and sodded off.

The Doctor sighed. Damn.

Both of his companion’s shirts were damp from the misters, and they were both licking at ice cream cones. Rose was holding a cone in each hand, and she offered one to the Doctor. It was piled high with two scoops of banana-flavoured goodness. He took it without complaint, and licked around the base, sopping up the melted ice cream before it could hit the ground.

“Thought you might like one yourself,” Rose said with a smile, “Superior biology or not, everyone likes ice cream!”

The Doctor just nodded, offering Rose his free hand and jerking his head towards the zoo entrance.

“C’mon, you two. Let’s get going.”

* * *

[HOLONET_TRANSMISSION_START]

[ENTERING MEETING…]

[WELCOME, DIRECTOR SENUMIEL]

“-Will be nice to have this meeting in person. Better for security purposes.”

“I agree. Anyway, back to the reason I called you all... We need to discuss what we do with our latest acquisition. It’ll cost 40000 credits in maintenance over the course of the Terran year…and it’s refusing to offer any options for ROI. Increase the pressure, perhaps?”

“Legally, no. We’ll discuss further options in person when we meet soon.”

“I hope so.”

[THE HOST HAS ENDED THE MEETING.]

[LEAVING ROOM…]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And once again, we're off! 
> 
> I have a nice backlog built up for this one, and this time I'm not going to be a moron and blow it all on Monday updates. Fridays only, for the sake of my sanity ~~and grades.~~
> 
> Big, big shoutout to [Isolus-girl ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isolus_girl/pseuds/Isolus_girl) for betareading this chapter and the rest of the backlog! Check her out, she's dope as hell. 
> 
> If you liked it, give me some fanfic fuel and leave a comment! I love hearing your thoughts. I've been sitting on this idea since last year, and I'm excited to finally bring it to life! Buckle up, because this is gonna be a big'un.


	2. Chapter 2

They arrived at the entrance to the zoo part of the park not long after. A red-brick pavilion stood in front of a towering concrete building, which was inset with glass windows in circular frames. Pinned above the cavernous entrance to a darkened tunnel was a colourful sign. Trees grew in pots, families milled around with tour groups, and in front of the vast entrance stood a little sandwich board with TOURS: 1:30 PM written on it.

The Doctor ambled up to it, looking around with a frown. Everything seemed alright. Maybe the mauve alert had come from the theme park after all?

He turned and looked, taking note of the security cameras watching over everything, and smiled at them.

Then he took a closer look at the sign hanging above the entrance to the zoo.

 _NOAZARC ENDLING SANCTUARY- “Extinct Is Forever- See Them Before They’re Gone!”_ went the cheery slogan below it.

“Endling?” Rose asked, leaning against him and taking his hand. The Doctor had gone ramrod stiff, staring at the painted letters.

“Endlings,” he said quietly, “The last living member of their species. When they die, the species is extinct.”

Rose looked at him with wide eyes.

“Like-“ she started at him, and then closed her mouth, well aware that this might not be the best place to finish that sentence.

The Doctor swallowed and looked at the ground.

“Yes, Rose.” He said softly.

Rose squeezed his hand.

“Like Martha,” she said softly. The Doctor looked at her and quirked an eyebrow.

“The last passenger pigeon,” Rose continued, “Her name was Martha. She died in a zoo in 1914. I saw a documentary about it. Was really sad…”

The Doctor just nodded stiffly.

There was something deeply depressing about knowing the date, time, and place that a species had vanished from the face of the universe- the day that the last one had died. And that sadness was compounded by knowing that he could count himself as a peer of the animals that this Terminarch place was keeping here in this zoo.

He was the last of the Time Lords.

He was an endling.

Rose squeezed his hand and smiled at him, one tinged with sadness.

Jack jogged up behind them, licking sticky ice cream remnants off his fingers- he’d eaten all his ice cream and then been left with half a soggy cone and no time to find a trashcan to put it in.

“Hold up, hold up!” he said, “Okay, so, what’s the plan? Go in guns blazing, or-?”

The Doctor gestured at the little sandwich board in front of him.

“The plan is, we take the tour. That sound good, Jack?”

Jack scratched his chin as he considered this.

“Get the lay of the land and all that? I dunno, boss. What if they mulch us up or something?”

The Doctor gestured at the tour group in matching yellow shirts that was emerging from the dark tunnel, families and children and grandparents from a dozen different species. Clearly there on a package tour.

“If they’re killing people, then they’re doing a pretty bad job of it.” The Doctor said with a shrug.

Jack had to concede that point, but he kept one hand in his pocket. Travelling with the Doctor had many perks, one of which was pockets that were bigger on the inside. The perfect place to stash a bunch of guns and enough condoms to keep him in-

Well, yes. Anyway.

As they stood around, other tourists and families gathered around. The Doctor chatted with them all in turn, Rose staying next to him and leaning into his side, or looking up at the sky and wondering at the lack of birds overhead.

It was as the Doctor was chatting to a Verntonian father and his three grubs that the tour guide arrived, sauntering up in a full-body green khaki jumpsuit with matching ballcap, like a park ranger from Earth or something similar. She stood by the sign, smiling proudly, and checked her watch.

The Doctor begged off his conversation, Jack stopped flirting with the Burian he was trying to suss out for kinky sex, and Rose disentangled from the family of sheeplike Daal that were currently standing around looking like sentient cotton balls with horns.

“HELLO! Can we all please gather around, anyone who wants the tour? Please have your passes and tickets ready, thank you!” the guide called, and Rose took her in. She LOOKED plenty human, and were it not for the fangs in her mouth and the slight silvering of the veins in her arms, she’d have passed muster on Earth.

“Klandestine hybrid,” the Doctor said quietly to Rose, “Pretty common in this quadrant. They’re good folk.”

Rose nodded.

Jack walked up next to Rose, blowing a flirtatious kiss at the Burian in a tailored suit he’d been flirting with. The Burian stood upright like a human with his tail dragging on the ground behind him. His slim dinosaurian body was nicely wrapped in a well-tailored suit, and he winked a single yellow-slit eye at Jack, since he didn’t have the lips to kiss back. As Rose watched, he reached up and fiddled with the cufflinks on his suit jacket, gold wristwatch flashing in the light.

“Sorted your entertainment for the night, Jack?” Rose asked, and Jack just nodded eagerly.

“Oh, yeah. Vek’s here for a conference. Looking for a little bit of fun. We’ll talk after the tour, assuming nothing comes up.” Jack said with an easy swagger, taking another swig of water from his canteen and offering it to Rose. She chugged back a goodly amount, and returned it.

“S’still too fuckin’ hot,” Rose muttered, ignoring the dirty look the Daal matriarch shot her at the profanity.

“Hello and welcome- are we all here?- hello and welcome to the Terminarch Zoological Society Species Refuge and Theme Park!” the guide said cheerfully, “I’m Baileigh, and I’ll be your guide for the next two hours and thirty minutes! Before we start, a bit of housekeeping- please stay on the path at all times, and please do not tap on the glass or otherwise disturb the animals. We’ll be taking a tram at several points during today’s tour, so please ensure that all limbs, tentacles, and other appendages remain inside the vehicle while it is in motion! And please, please don’t wander off and stay with the group. Are we all okay with that?”

A round of nods from everyone. The Doctor folded his arms impatiently.

“Great! Before we start, I just wanted to tell you all a little about the history of this place. A decade ago, our brilliant Board of Directors purchased this planet with a grant from the Empire, and terraformed it into the shape you see today. While we were initially a not-for-profit under the name of the Noazarc Foundation, hard times forced us to look for other options. Five years ago we were acquired by our friends at Terminarch, who’ve been helping us keep this place in tip-top shape!”

At the mention of Terminarch, the Doctor’s frown deepened, and he raised his hand.

“Pardon me. Forgive the stupid question, but…who’s Terminarch?” he asked.

Baileigh’s eyes lit up.

“Terminarch is the biggest entertainment company in the Local Group!” she said cheerfully, “They’re behind all the classic films you enjoyed as a child, almost all the shows you grew up with, and so much more! They’re always looking for new ways to expand and new niches to fill, and we got so lucky when they bought our little facility from the Noazarc Foundation!”

Jack’s scowl deepened a little.

“They’re a bunch of bastards who spent the _entire fifty-second century_ churning out so many shitty uninspired remakes and sequels, that the word “sequel” is now a swear on a couple of planets I’ve been to.” Jack muttered, and the Doctor snorted.

Baileigh didn’t hear him, and kept right on rolling, bold as brass.

“We’re very glad to have their support, because running a place like this isn’t easy! We built this facility to house the endlings of the universe- the last members of a given species. When they die, their species is extinct- forever. So, we must protect these precious creatures- they’re the only ones left. This really is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see many of these species; once they die, they’ll be gone forever, only left in memories. So let’s make the most of it! We hope you have a wonderful time here at the Noazarc Endling Refuge!”

As soon as she’d said the word ‘Noazarc’ out loud, Rose started frowning. Which meant she matched the Doctor, whose frown had deepened to one of his unimpressed scowls; not quite in hateful glare territory, but certainly well on its way.

“Are there any other questions before we get started?” Baileigh chirped, looking around with shining brown eyes.

Rose raised her hand. She couldn’t take it anymore.

“Yes, Miss or Mister or variations thereupon! What would you like to know?”

“Noazarc?” Rose echoed, “That’s- why’s it called that? It sounds a bit-“

“I’m glad you asked! Noazarc is a name chosen based on an ancient human legend. The human Noazarc was said to have kept all the world’s animals safe by spiriting them away in a spaceship in a time when the Earth was bathed in fire. Isn’t that magnificent? A perfect name for our endling sanctuary!”

“...No, it’s not,” Rose interjected, “I think you’re trying to say _Noah’s Ark._ His name was _NOAH,_ an’ he built a big _boat_ to keep _some of_ the animals safe from a _flood.”_

The guide, not to mention the rest of the tourists, turned to stare at Rose.

“Are you an expert in human history? Some kind of professor?” the guide asked, eyes wide. She sounded excited.

“…Yes.” Rose said slowly, “Professor…DOCTOR Tyler. I study, uh, ancient Earth history. My speciality is uh, the twenty-first century.”

“And these gentlemen are…?” the guide gestured to the Doctor and Jack on either side of her, and Rose smirked at the Time Lord on her left.

“This is the Do- this is _Theta_ and Jack. They’re my assistants.”

The Doctor grinned and gave a little wave, before giving Rose a bit of side-eye and mentally cursing his psychic paper. Bastard thing had opened a can of worms and he’d never be able to get the lid back on. He’d be having _words_ with it after he got it back from Rose.

Baileigh beamed.

“Well, that’s marvellous! A real expert in Earth history! We’re all very lucky today, because Terry’s put together another one of his fantastic tours just for us, and it features lots and lots of famous Earthlings! I’ll be sure to ask you lots of questions- I don’t doubt that we’re all gonna learn something today!” Baileigh said with a chirpy grin. One that did not match the strained smile on Rose’s face- she looked the Doctor in the eyes, trying to communicate _oh god I’m surrounded by idiots who are looking to me to explain things is this how you feel all the time_ with just her eyes. Not that she needed to; the sentiment sang through the bond as plain as day.

The Doctor gave her a pat on the shoulder and gestured with his head that they should follow; Baileigh was already skipping off into the dark tunnel, calling for them to follow, and the group shuffled off after her.

“I got a bad feelin’ about this place,” the Doctor muttered to Rose, who just patted him sympathetically.

“Yeah. Me- me too.” She whispered back.

In front of the tunnel entrance was a row of turnstiles of various sizes, like one would see at an amusement park on Earth. The Doctor walked up to the turnstyle, quirking an eyebrow at the symbol being displayed on the glowing pad beside the spinny bar thing- “Place appendage here”? He’d expected it to be asking for his ticket or his pass or something, not have a flat surface onto which he was supposed to press his hand.

The Doctor tried the bar- it was locked in place.

Everyone else was breezing through fairly swiftly, and with Rose and Jack already bundling off into the crowd, the Doctor sighed and pressed his hand to the steel plate and looked at the little screen above it.

Something brushed against his palm, and he blinked. Oh, PLEASE don’t be what he thought that was…

The screen flashed at him- and unlike everyone else, where the screen would flash green and the turnstile would unlock, the Doctor’s flashed…

Mauve?

He shook his head and pushed through the turnstile, looking at his palm where he’d felt the scrape.

His hearts seized when he saw it- a shallow, perfectly-rectangular scratch in his skin.

They’d taken a genetic sample.

Oh, _fuck._ For a number of reasons.

Rose sidled up next to him, and the Doctor decided not to worry her with it. He needed to get that sample back and destroy it, and if that meant blowing up the park to do so, then so be it.

“Somethin’ wrong?” she said, “I think those stupid things took a chunk outta my hand…”

The Doctor nodded curtly. “Genetic screening, I think. Keep track of what species are visiting the park an’ whatnot. Mind you, I haven’t seen it in bloody _years…”_

He shook his head and took her hand, forking his train of thought into two streams- getting his genetic sample back would be on the backburner in favour of figuring out what was wrong with this park. And then he’d get his genetic sample back or destroy it, even if he had to burn this place to the ground and blow up the ashes to be sure.

Baileigh was waiting expectantly by an electric tram, the same sort that had picked them up in the parking lot. The tour group all piled into the same one, with Baileigh sitting up in a special seat at the front that she swivelled around to face them. Once they were all piled in, the Doctor took one glance back at the light of day behind him, pouring in from the tunnel mouth.

The benches were long enough for three people to sit abreast, but the group was small enough and the tram big enough that they all got their own rows. The Doctor took the opportunity to tuck Rose into his side, cuddling her close and smiling down at her. Despite everything, this outing was offering many opportunities to be close to his favourite pink-and-yellow human, and who was he to complain about that?

He craned his head back to make sure Jack hadn’t been left behind; and as he suspected, the former captain had opted to sit two rows behind them, flirting with Vek. The Burian looked downright odd in his tailored black suit- his people didn’t normally wear _any_ clothes _at all,_ and here was this lad swanning about like he’d stepped out of the 78th century remake of the Godfather or something. The shiny gold cufflinks he kept playing with were even more absurd.

“Y’look good in a suit,” Jack was saying, “Didn’t think they made ones for guys with tails, but damn, my man. You look stunning. The tie really brings out the green in your scales.”

Vek chuckled and responded in a deep, guttural growl, beak clacking as he spoke. “You really think so? This one’s brand new, I wasn’t sure about the fit just yet. They don’t make these suits off the peg for guys like me, you know? I was worried about the fit around my shoulders. You’re not too badly dressed yourself…I like the retro look. It’s very ‘in’ of late.”

“Really?” Jack said, and the Doctor could just HEAR the flirty wink from his seat, “Maybe you can teach me a bit more about getting a good fit…”

“Mmmm, that can certainly be arranged, Jack Harkness.”

Rose giggled and leaned into the Doctor. Listening to Jack flirt was always fun, and this Vek seemed like a decent bloke, Armani suit and all.

Further flirting between man and dinosaur alien was interrupted by the tram jerking to life, and Baileigh hopping on the PA system. Her voice curled smoothly through the cabin from speakers concealed in the material of the roof, not too loud and not too soft and easily heard over the rattling of the tram.

“Our tour today has been charted for us by our wonderful director, Terry!” Baileigh said with a big smile, “Terry is the Terminarch Corporation’s patented park management AI. He’s the brains of the whole operation- without Terry, we wouldn’t have a park nearly as wonderful as this. He cares for our endlings, plots out the tours- the model of efficiency and progress! We’re very, very proud of our Terry here.”

The Doctor’s ears pricked up at the words “AI” and “in control of everything.” Oh joy of joys, another fucking evil computer. How many more of these would he have to shut down? Just once, couldn’t it be a _nice_ rogue AI that _didn’t_ want to go full Skynet?

He sighed and rubbed his forehead as the electric tram drove into the darkness.

This was going to be a long, long day.

* * *

**To:** Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

 **From:** CloburTheLesser@Cordcepa.gov.Cord

 **Subject:** Kindly requesting advice!

Director Senumiel,

Our deepest salutations on this fine day. It has come to our attention that purchasing significant stock in the Terminarch corporation awards one an automatic seat for shareholder meetings. The next one is happening in two standard solar cycles, correct? We are interested to see our latest investment in person. Additionally, are any provisions made for multiforms with a gestalt consciousness across multiple bodies? We do not wish to arrive with one form and find that our fifth body is the only one permitted to vote in corporate affairs.

We appreciate your advice on this matter.

May you never be alone.

Clobur the Lesser

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I lied. I'm sitting on a backlog like nobody's business, so for the next few weeks, there'll be a Monday update. But not for too long, I'm keeping at least five chapters in reserve.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked it! If you did, let me know how it's looking and leave a comment! I love hearing all your thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

The train slid down the darkened tunnel, the only light coming from the occasional bulb on the walls and the LED from Baileigh’s PA speaker- which she seemed quite keen to use.

“Our tour today will be chock-full of some of the most famous- and infamous!- animals ever beholden by sentient beings. Many of them are from Earth, the homeworld of the human race. For our first stop, we’ll be looking at a favourite of mine- a dreaded creature, the most prolific natural killer of homo sapiens of them all! Now it’s been safely contained, we have the very last of their kind here in our wonderful facility- despite heavy lobbying by Human rights organizations to have them exterminated, we’ll keep them to their natural end!” Baileigh chirped, and the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

Rose grabbed his hand, and warmth flowed through their bond- as well as fear. Killer of humans? Where had he heard that before?

The tram trundled into a brightly lit area filled with trees and other plants, a stepping-off place on only one side of the tram to indicate where one should disembark. The Doctor stepped out onto the grey concrete and watched their chirpy guide walk towards a funnel in the walls- an open entrance to a bank of exhibits.

Over the entrance to the hallway was a great stone arch with writing carved into it, which made the Doctor snort. He leaned over to Rose and elbowed her gently.

“The TARDIS isn’t translating that,” he whispered, “It’s exactly what you think it is.”

Rose’s eyes bugged out and she bit her lip to suppress a giggle. All fear evaporated across their connection, and she put a hand over her mouth to try to cover her grin.

“Doctor Tyler?” Baileigh said with a big smile, “Do you possibly know what’s written on this arch? We know it’s from ancient Earth, and we know it’s a proverb of some great significance, but we haven’t been able to translate it. Do you know what it says?” Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Jack scanned over the arch and nodded solemnly.

Rose burst out laughing.

“What? What the hell’s so funny? That IS an ancient proverb!” Jack protested “Socrates himself said that, didn’t he?”

Rose was shaking, desperately trying to suppress her giggles enough to speak. Of all the things to survive into the future, _that?_

“It…it says “never stick your dick in crazy.” Rose cackled, “And if that’s from a great philosopher then it’s good to know Mickey’s up there with Plato!”

The Daal family looked rather taken aback, Vek was snickering, and Jack looked decidedly crestfallen.

“I…oh…” Baileigh said, “Well, I…I guess I’ll have to…talk to my superiors about that. Um. Anyway. Just follow me, please!” 

She stepped past the arch and down the hall, and the Doctor shrugged at Rose and followed her. 

The room they stepped into was a maze of square-shaped boxes of different sizes, scattered around the room with large amounts of space between them. Each box was like a great greyed-out pillar, the sides of the boxes flush with black pillars that grew out of the black floor like trees in a forest. Each grey-walled box had little holographic placards with information about the animals that were presumably contained within, and the Doctor was already on edge. Some of those boxes were alarmingly small, even if others were quite large…

The room was well-lit, with painted foliage on the walls and animal calls of all kinds gently looping on a PA speaker hidden behind some ferns. Baileigh lead them up to a small box in the middle of the room, whose pedestal had been adorned with a massive, painted-on biohazard sign…or what a biohazard sign might look like if it was being described down a very bad phone connection by someone who barely spoke English.

“In this enclosure rests the last of their kind. The demon that stalked humanity from their birth to their escape from their homeworld. The monster they fought with poisons so foul, it killed millions of other animals in the process. The beast that slayed countless humans from evolution to spaceflight, more than any war or plague combined!” Baileigh said dramatically, and the tourists dutifully gasped.

Rose gripped his hand tighter, and a spike of fear shot through her.

Baileigh lifted up the device strapped to her forearm and tapped on the screen.

“I give you… THE MOZZIE!”

The grey wall slid down into a slot on the black pedestal, revealing a clean glass terrarium. It was done up to look like a small swamp, with grasses and standing water covering the bottom, along with a smattering of flowers.

And buzzing around inside the terrarium-

“…That’s a mosquito.” Rose blurted out, “Those are _MOSQUITOS.”_

“What? But the database says they’re Mozzies…”

“Yeah, that’s…that’s a nickname.” Rose said with a sigh, “They’re called mosquitoes- hold on, did you say these were the last ones?”

“Yes! This terrarium contains a small breeding population of mankind’s most dreaded killer. These little insects are responsible for countless human deaths from the stone age to the invention of the warp drive, predominantly by spreading disease! We’ve weathered many attempts by human rights groups to have them all exterminated, but the Noazarc Endling Refuge stands by its commitment to preserving endlings, so these…mosquitoes?...will remain here for the foreseeable future!”

Rose looked at the Doctor, quirking an eyebrow. Okay, yeah, it was kinda shitty that the company wasn’t letting the pestilential little fuckers die out naturally, but why would human rights groups be getting all up in arms about…?

“Additionally, since what we have here in this terrarium is more properly termed a ‘relict’- that is, the last breeding population of a species- we here at the Noazarc Endling Sanctuary are the chief supplier of captive-bred specimens to other zoos and establishments- if you’ve seen a…mosquito…before this, then it was bred right here!” she said cheerfully, and Rose’s jaw clenched.

“You’re BREEDING them?!” She almost yelled, dropping the Doctor’s hand, “You’re breeding mosquitoes. They’re almost extinct, and you’re BREEDING THEM?!” 

“Well…yes? They’re the last of their kind, it’s our responsibility to ensure that there are still a few preserved for the future!”

“I got a blaster,” Jack said flatly, “I can fry ‘em if you want. Ten seconds, won’t be any skin off my nose.”

The Doctor snorted, and Rose squeezed his hand as she stared into the box, at the nearly invisible specks flying around inside it.

He’d never felt hatred like that flowing through their bond. To be fair, this was about the only time it made sense- nobody liked mosquitoes, not even him.

“I beg your pardon! These are priceless specimens, which-“

“They’re FUCKING MOSQUITOES!” Jack yelled, “you’ve got the last of them in the universe, and you HAVEN’T lit them on fire?! What the hell is WRONG with you people?! And you’re SELLING THEM?!”

Baileigh sighed. “As I was saying. Human rights groups have been advocating for their destruction, and we’ve been ignoring them.”

“Yeah, damn right they have-“

“Excuse me!” A firm voice from the back of the crowd piped up, and everyone turned to look.

Vek strode forwards, clearing his throat and placing a hand on Jack’s shoulder.

“My…friend here is rather passionate about the topic, but perhaps it may be best to move on from these, er…mosquitoes, did you call them?” he looked at Rose expectantly, and she nodded, biting down on a spike of rage. They were BREEDING them, instead of just letting the pestilential little fuckers die out naturally-!

A warm wave of comfort washed through the bond from the Doctor, and Rose’s shoulders sagged a little. The look in his eyes said _it’ll be alright._

The wall slid down after the other tourists had crowded around to take their pictures, and Baileigh directed them to another cube with a similar wall-sliding-up arrangement right next door. It was some alien thing Rose didn’t recognize, and the Doctor didn’t either, based on the hearty shrug of his shoulders.

Still. She could feel the pity leaking through their bond, and she squeezed his hand. The little froglike creature in the tank didn’t deserve to be alone.

Nobody deserved to be all alone.

The next enclosure was substantial, a large box about the size of a living room, and as the walls slid up, the tears sprang into Rose’s eyes.

A cat.

A cat sunned itself on a knitted throw, in the middle of a strange mishmash of domestic furniture and natural plants; grass swayed around the scratching post, a log draped over the front of the sofa, the litterbox was buried in the earth. The walls were holographically projecting a blue sky with white clouds- the only thing that made any sense.

“Felis!” Baileigh said with a broad smile, “A beloved animal by the human race, at least initially. They later realized it was a danger to biodiversity across their planet because, when allowed to roam freely, Felis had a habit of killing small animals indiscriminately and in large numbers. This resulted in many species being driven to extinction. As a result, breeding them on Earth was banned, and the feral populations were hunted to extinction to save some of Earth’s few remaining songbirds. This one is descended from a population brought to their first extraplanetary colony, Mar!” 

Rose was too busy staring at the cat to correct the obvious verbal typo. He had a white front and legs and a stripy brown-and-black back, his ears twitching happily in the artificial sunlight shining down from above. The cat looked glossy-coated and well-fed, happy and content- and it was a cat.

It was a housecat.

It was the LAST housecat.

Rose’s heart lurched, and she squeezed the Doctor’s hand even tighter.

It hurt just to think about, that he and the…the cat…

Rose swallowed and looked away.

“Could we please look at something else?” the Doctor said firmly, letting go of Rose’s hand and putting an arm around her shoulder for support. Baileigh was still chattering away as the tourists got their pictures, and he sent a wave of love and understanding through the bond. She was sad for the cat- and for him.

Endling really was a very final word.

The wall slid down on the cat, mercifully, and Rose sniffled a little, doing her best to straighten herself out. Her face was flushed and her eyes gleamed with unfallen tears- holding it together, just barely.

Jack was stonefaced, almost ashen.

“Does it help,” the Doctor said quietly, “if I tell you she’s wrong?”

“What?” Rose croaked, looking up at him.

“That’s not the last cat. Well…it’s probably the last purestrain cat. But it’s been tens of thousands of years, Rose. The descendants of _Felis catus_ are still alive. Maybe they’re not pure. Maybe they’re not what you’d consider a cat. But they changed and adapted and became something different. This cat…this cat is Cassandra.”

Rose sniffled, and looked up at the Doctor with wide eyes. He could feel her surprise, her curiosity, floating through the bond. And…her relief.

“The end isn’t always the end. You know as well as I do that the future isn’t always fixed.” The Doctor said softly, patting Rose’s shoulder.

She leaned into him and nodded against his shoulder. She knew, alright. It was an inescapable fact of their bond; sometimes, hints of what the Doctor saw in the timelines leaked across. He did his best to suppress it, but…well. There wasn’t any way to avoid it completely. A little bit of exposure to the infinite possibilities that spiralled off every second was harmless enough, but all of it at once…

The Doctor shuddered, and Rose responded by getting on her tiptoes and giving him a peck on the cheek.

He smiled, feeling a little more settled as they followed the crowd down the hall.

The next area was quite similar to the first, and when they stopped at the next enclosure (which was about the size of a large fishtank) Bailieigh beamed at Rose.

“Doctor Tyler, maybe you can help us with this one!” she said brightly, “This is an animal from Earth, late in the 21st century, but we don’t know much about it, other than it’s the last of its kind. Maybe you could tell us more?”

The wall slid up, and Rose bit her lip, taking a step forward.

And she blanched. It was a rattlesnake- very clearly, a rattlesnake. Long and thin, an arrow-shaped head, and a slender tail tipped with a rattle. It sunned itself on a rock in the middle of its grass-filled enclosure, with holographic clouds on a blue sky tumbling by in the background.

The only problem was, the rattlesnake had hundreds and hundreds of segmented legs.

Rose blinked a few times, grabbing the Doctor’s hand and opening her mouth. Fear and desperation shot through their link, and he let go of her hand and draped his arm around her shoulder. Surety and comfort flowed off him in waves, and Rose relaxed.

“Oh, that? Multipedic Serpentomorph.” The Doctor said brightly, “Wrote my thesis paper on them! Doctor Tyler was so impressed, she picked me up for an assistant.”

“Yeah! Yeah, he’s much more knowledgeable about them than me.” Rose said with a relieved nod, and Baileigh beamed.

“It’s so wonderful to have some experts on hand! Many of our species aren’t in any of the databases, so we’re forced to rely on feature identification keys and corroboration with lots of other sources to try and identify them. Sometimes, they slip through the cracks- but now you’ve given us a name, we’ll be able to find out even more about it!” she said brightly, and Rose breathed a shaky sigh.

“Feature identification keys?” she echoed a minute later as they walked away from the Serpentomorph, hanging around the back of the group.

“Old tool in biology. Use the external and internal features of the animal to aid identification. Doesn’t always work, but if you can’t make a genetic match, it’s the next best thing.”

The Doctor frowned, then, and took Rose’s hand. He gave it a squeeze- she could feel a slight frisson of fear rumbling through his sendings, lacing around her and making her shudder a little, too.

The moment passed quickly, and the Doctor was back to curious and interested- but Rose was still on edge.

Their meandering journey eventually lead them back to a tram station like the one they’d boarded at the entrance, with their tram waiting patiently for them on the tracks.

“Now, if you’d please take your seats again, we’ll keep going! Remember to keep all appendages, sensory organs, and protuberances inside the car at all times while it is in motion!” She said, taking her place up at the front.

Rose slid into the seat and the Doctor slid in beside her, the two of them cuddling up closely as behind them, Jack and Vek took a seat together. The Doctor glanced over his shoulder to take a second glance at the Burian.

“So. What brings a strapping fella like yourself to this part of the galaxy?” Jack said with an audible smirk.

“Oh, you know, the usual. Business interests, that sort of thing. My company has been contracted to do a little work for Terminarch, so I’m here to conduct inspections and finalize the deal. Not very interesting.” Vek said dismissively, and Jack snorted.

“Still, bit unusual to see you all by yourself. All the other Burians I knew came in pairs. Got an _Ishee_ tucked away someplace?” Jack said, a slightly-more serious edge to his tone. Rose had seen that look before- the ‘tell me if you’re taken and I’ll piss off’ look.

“Hmm, me? No, no… an _Ishee_ was never in the cards. Now, a _Kishee_ …well, if the right man comes along…” Vek mused, “Perhaps I’d think about it. But not right now. I really appreciate your asking, though.”

Jack’s megawatt grin amped up to full power, and he leaned back, practically lounging in his seat. Showing off the goods, so to speak. Vek looked rather interested, and Rose snorted.

“What about you? Humanlikes aren’t terribly common in this quadrant, especially not ones as striking as yourself…” Vek asked, very obviously ogling his seatmate.

Rose rolled her eyes. Like Jack’s ego needed any more feeding.

“Thanks, I grew this face myself. We’re just here for a holiday, see the sights, you know?”

“Mmm. Well, you should come by my suite later. I’ve got a few sights worth seeing.”

“I’ll bet you do.”

The Daal patriarch turned around in his seat and snorted a gust of air out of his nose, his horns curling and uncurling in front of Rose’s eyes.

“Excuse me!” He snapped, “My calves are still in primary education, so if you wouldn’t mind-“

“Sorry, sorry,” Jack said smoothly, putting his hands up.

The Daal looked like he was about to continue, when the tram abruptly switched tracks and surged down a dark hallway with only a scant few lights. Baileigh, who’d been mid-sentence about something entirely unrelated, spluttered and checked her tablet. Illuminated by its flickering glow, Rose watched her eyes scan over the screen. The Doctor was simmering with barely-contained excitement- this clearly wasn’t part of the normal tour.

She reached over and hit a button beside her, turning on some emergency lighting inside the tram- the yellowy-orange bulbs of street lamps back home.

Rose sighed.

“I see running in our future,” she muttered, and the Doctor grinned.

“Uh.” Baileigh said as the tram pitched downhill, “Uh, well…the…well, Terry’s changed our route. Um. So, I’ll be honest: We’re going into a part of the facility that I…have never been to before!” She finished the sentence with some cheer, putting an excited spin on something that was clearly concerning.

“But that’s okay! I’m sure this’ll be just as magical as our standard tour is. Terry knows best! Gosh, we get to discover what’s down here together! How exciting!”

The Daal children up front bleated in excitement, and Jack leaned forwards and jabbed the Doctor in the shoulder.

“Still think they’re not cutting people up?” He muttered, and the Doctor shrugged.

“We’ll find out, won’t we?” he added, and Rose shook her head. 

* * *

[HOLONET_TRANSMISSION_START]

[JOINING MEETING]

[WELCOME, DIRECTOR SENUMIEL]

“We’ve been offered a large sum for the rights to a property recently acquired through the park. In light of this success, I think it’s best if we proceed with the latest acquisition, and attempt to put pressure on that to see if we can generate additional revenue. As it stands, it’s only costing us money.”

“Hate to interject, but we’ve had another transmission from Terry…you know what he’s asking for, of course.”

“Denied, for my part. I’ll open a poll.”

[SHAREHOLDER KALVUS HAS OPENED A POLL: TERRY’S STUPID REQUEST: YES OR NO?]

[70 VOTES TALLIED. TOTAL: 4 YES, 66 NO.]

[WEIGHING RESULTS. RESULT: 97% NO.]

“Denied, then. And who keeps voting yes? Are you insane?”

“We’ll check the logs afterwards, see who they are. I’ll buy them out.”

“Anyway, why DOES he keep asking us? Doesn’t he know the answer is always going to be the same?”

“I don’t know. We’ll speak to him in person and perhaps give him an attitude adjustment. He sorely needs one.”

“I’m genuinely disappointed with Terry. We’ve seen a downturn in profits off our latest acquisitions since we installed him. It was very expensive, and I’d like to have a few words with him when we get there.”

“I’ll table a motion to revisit some of his programming. This is getting out of hand. Anyone else have anything they wish to discuss?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Very well. I’m closing the meeting.”

[THE MEETING HAS ENDED.]

[LEAVING ROOM…]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick little Monday update because I realized if I didn't post a few of these early we'd be well into January before we hit chapter 10! So let's get this show on the road, eh?
> 
> Oh, and PSA: KEEP YOUR CATS INSIDE. Thanks, I'll get off my soapbox now. 
> 
> As usual, let me know your thoughts! Comments and feedback help me make my stories a lot better than they could otherwise be, and I treasure all your replies.


	4. Chapter 4

The tram began to slow down, coming to a stop in a brightly-lit area that nonetheless looked quite ominous. The walls were black, the floor was black, the ceiling was black, and the only path away from the station was a black tunnel into more blackness. Baileigh stepped out excitedly, standing a few steps from the entrance and patiently waiting for everyone else to disembark.

“Well, no sense wasting time! Let’s see what Terry’s got in store for us down here!” She said, and Rose swallowed nervously.

The black tunnel was reasonably short, and opened up into a vast square room with a low ceiling and distant red EXIT signs winking away in all directions. But the most striking feature of the room were the cubes.

Just like the enclosures upstairs, the room was filled with equally-sized black cubes in a grid pattern, with a crisscrossing network of hallways between each one. The cubes had no pedestals, resting on the floor and reaching up to join with the ceiling, and they were all substantially large- easily as big as Rose’s flat back home.

Baileigh blinked a few times and checked her tablet, then shrugged.

“Let’s see…our first species is a few down. I’ve never been here before, and I don’t know what we’re about to see, so this is a first for all of us!” She chirped, “this is simply magical!”

“Yeah.” Jack agreed sarcastically, already fumbling for his blasters. With a shrug from the Doctor, he followed the rest of the tour group down the side hallway in a nervous column.

She stopped in front of a cube three from the end, and Baileigh stepped off to the side and pressed a button on her tablet. The wall slid up with a pneumatic hiss- and the Doctor gasped.

The enclosure had high walls covered in holographic cream-coloured clouds. A cliff with lots of rocks jutting out of it dominated the far wall, and the ground was covered in pools of violet water out of which strange orange plants were growing in the artificial daylight. And in the middle of the enclosure-

She stood upright on two long slender legs, and around her body was a long, flowing train of iridescent blue feathers, coiling from her tail and wrapping around her like a dress. A thin blue robe wrapped around her down her shoulders; it was parted in the back by six blue-purple wings, clawlike fingers at the first hinge all curled into a posture of anger. Despite her rage, she looked utterly regal; a picture of elegance and beauty.

She turned her face, yellow eyes and orange beak, to look at the intruders, a halo of white feathers around her head. And the Doctor knew, he knew even before he made eye contact with her-

Her eyes sparkled. They gleamed with the shine of a mind, a soul, _intellect, thoughts, hopes, dreams, wishes-_

“Uh,” Baileigh said uncomfortably, “I- uh- um…that…That doesn’t look…like…an animal…uh…”

She swallowed and did her best to put on a brave face, looking at the tablet screen.

“Uh, well, T-terry…Terry says this…this is…”

“Let me stop you right there,” the Doctor said, shoving the guide aside with a disturbingly fake grin on his face. He turned, facing the small crowd of tourists, eyes twinkling with barely-contained rage.

“This is a Kortax!” The Doctor said, “SHE is a Kortax. A SENTIENT BEING, from the planet Andalu Prime. They build great shining cities into the mountain cliffs, or at least they did before…before their planet shattered. They were master poets and scholars, and loved nothing more than to fly in their planet’s thick, soupy atmosphere. You know. A **MOTHER! FUCKING! _PERSON!”_**

He roared the last three words, spinning to stare at the guide as he did so.

“You,” he said, jabbing a finger at her, “how many more have you got like this? How many PEOPLE is this- this- PLACE, KEEPING PRISONER!? **_HOW MANY!?”_**

Baileigh quailed under the Doctor’s glare. Her eyes filled with silver tears, and she cowered back, shaking in fright. Her fangs slid down subconsciously, making them look decidedly long and sharp.

“I- I don’t know!” She spluttered, “I’ve never been here before- they didn’t- they didn’t tell us- they didn’t tell us they were keeping, keeping, p-people!”

“This- this is a violation of the Traibeq conventions!” the Daal father roared, stomping his hooves, “I’m a lawyer, I’ll have you people in front of every court from here to the galactic centre!”

“I didn’t know…” Vek muttered, looking shell-shocked, “I didn’t know…If I’d known, I wouldn’t…I…”

Jack drew his blaster and flicked the setting to square, looking at the Doctor and raising an eyebrow.

“Doc? Square the box?”

“Do it.” The Doctor said, gesturing at the Kortax to move to the side. Her eyes went wide, and she flailed her arms- a motion Rose read as similar to shaking her head.

“Wait-“ She said in a panic, “JACK- DON’T-“

Jack pulled the trigger.

The squareness gun’s blue plume touched against the inch-thick plasti-glass- and the instant it did, alarms started blaring the length and breadth of the facility. Louder and more piercing than the school’s fire bell, Rose clapped her hands over her ears with a yelp.

Dozens of doors down the hallway slammed open, disgorging black-suited humanoids with shiny black metal exoskeletons wrapped around their limbs. Metal struts slid with oiled hisses from all directions, the wolves let loose in the pasture and them the unwitting sheep. Rose quailed at the sight of their three-eyed green goggles glowing from the darkness, like monsters from the deep ocean. With a racking of slides, their guns lit up too- cannon-type things clutched in every hand, or perhaps glowing lassoes-

The first few marched up on Baileigh’s far side, weapons drawn and levelled at the tour party, authority oozing off them in waves. All bunched up in front, none cutting off their escape to the back- they walked with the easy grace of men who didn’t expect to be questioned.

The Doctor automatically stepped forward, putting himself between the guards and the tour party. Rose stood beside him, her look of defiance matching his. She grabbed his hand, feeling his determination to protect these people pouring through their link, and squeezed his hand as tight as she could.

“You there! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” The Doctor barked.

“You are all under arrest for trespassing and attempted release of Terminarch property, as well as intellectual property theft and aggravated damages. All of you will be taken to the penal division to plead your case in front of a judge. Orsantha Baileigh, for failing to prevent this incident, your account has been fined fifty thousand credits. As you are unable to settle this debt, you will be promoted to the rank of security personnel effective immediately.” The frontmost guard said.

Silence reigned for several seconds as everyone stared at them.

Jack clicked his blaster over a setting. The Doctor tensed, letting Rose feel a spike of anticipation- she got ready to run, to yell at the others to run.

The Doctor opened his mouth to start talking- only for Vek to step forward and shove him out of the way, taking his place at the head of the group.

“All of you will stop this right now. You’ll drop all charges and you’ll let us leave without any further hindrance.” He said sternly.

The leadmost guard tilted their head.

“And on whose authority are you acting?”

“My own.” Vek snarled.

He reached inside his suit and pulled out a card holder, removing a plastic card from inside it and holding it up in front of the guard’s face. The green-tinged lens of the guard’s goggle projected a thin glowing beam that scanned over the card, and the guard relaxed.

“These people are part of my entourage. I am Director Vek-Hamee, representative of Mislit Terraforming and Environmental Services. Your employers have a substantial contract with my company for services on this planet. You will stand down or I will consider our contract violated and I will be seeking damages in court.” He snarled, sharp teeth bared in front of the guard’s black-covered face.

The weapons went down slowly, and Vek narrowed his eyes.

“Very well.” The guard said, turning and scanning over the party.

“Very good. Now if you don’t mind-“ Vek started, only for the guard to hold up a hand.

“You and your entourage may leave. However. There is an unknown species among you. They will come with us for processing.”

“What?” Vek said, hackles raising in a manner that made his tailored suit creak in protest, “What in the hells are you on about?”

“They will come with us. They are an unknown species. We cannot allow them to return without processing them first.” The guard said, pointing at the Doctor.

Rose’s heart seized in her chest.

“No!” she yelled, jumping in front of him, “No, you can’t have him, he’s- he’s-He’s a human, just like me, I-“

“Is this human female not part of your entourage, Master Vek-Hamee?” The guard said, and Rose blanched.

“She is. Forgive her abruptness. A fresh hire from a colony world.” Vek said smoothly, grabbing Rose’s arm and yanking her away from the Doctor, ignoring the filthy looks he was getting from Jack.

“Doctor-“ Rose yelped, and the Doctor folded his arms and took a step back.

“I’m not going anywhere with you bastards. You’re keeping sentient beings prisoner, indefinitely, without trial, in a fucking ZOO. Everything happening here is against dozens of articles of the Shadow Proclamation, and furthermore-“

“Doctor?” Vek snapped, “You’re fired. Take him away and let the rest of us leave. **Now!”**

Rose screamed in protest as the guards surged forwards and grabbed at the Doctor, handcuffs coming out of nowhere and snapping around his wrists. She screeched, the Doctor yelled, and across their connection fear and desperation blasted through like a gunshot in a small room.

Vek grabbed her and Jack by the shoulders, hauling them back towards the tram- following the nervous jog of all the other tourists and Baileigh’s terrified sprint, fighting their flailing and screaming every step of the way.

Rose screamed out his name as they dragged him away, and the last thing she saw before rounding the corner was the Doctor, glancing over his shoulder, blue eyes locking onto hers.

* * *

They frogmarched him down hallway after hallway, the metal augmentations of the guards sliding with quiet mechanical hisses and creaks. Steel struts strapped to the edges of each legs, with a thin metal spine up the back and down each arm- an exoskeleton around a living person in a black uniform that covered every inch of their bodies. Even the helmets were face-obscuring- the only hint he had that there were people under there was the rhythmic rise and fall of their chests as they breathed.

It took the Doctor a second to notice that his captors were breathing in perfect sync.

“What species are you?” the two guards marching him demanded in unison, and the Doctor scowled. Oh, yeah, sure, he was just gonna open his mouth and sing like a birdie.

The Doctor clenched his jaw shut. Like he was going to tell them anything.

These monsters were aiding and abetting something he couldn’t abide- the forced captivity of sentient beings. No way in hell the last Kortax in the universe would want to spend her days locked in a box. A bird in a cage would never be happy while the sky cried out to be flown in.

He was much the same with time and space.

The guards marched him down a military-grade staircase, into a lower floor replete with pipes and gauges and wires dripping from every wall- the utilities part of the facility. Inset into the wall opposite the staircase was a blank grey door, which hissed open automatically.

The guards undid his handcuffs with a tap to the side, and shoved him through the door without another word. The Doctor tumbled to the floor with a grunt, just barely managing to catch himself.

The door slammed behind him and he was in the pitch-dark for a minute, before the lights flicked on, re-illuminating the whole sordid scene.

Rose’s concern washed over him, gently stroking his mind to try to comfort him. She was alive. She was okay. She could feel his pain, though, which wasn’t…he didn’t want to trouble her.

The Doctor closed a hatch, sealing off his physical pain from leaking across their tender bond. Wishing, deeply, that he could send more than just emotions and dreams. Wishing they could formally talk while conscious, send her pictures and thoughts and feelings…

Things like the layout of the room he was trapped in, for instance. It was roughly the size of a broom closet with nothing in it but a screen on the far wall and a pad below, embossed with the outline of a hand. He climbed to his feet with a groan, looking around.

The handprint on the wall glowed ominously, and he knew what they wanted.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, stalking towards the door and giving it a buzz. Deadlock-sealed, of course, how bloody typical. Not that he’d been expecting anything different. He started pacing around the room, running his fingers over the walls, trying to see if there was any other way out. 

After the fifth revolution, he grimly realized that there wasn’t. 

And that just left the handprint. Didn’t take a genius to work out what pressing that would do. 

The Doctor slipped his sonic into the pocket of his trousers. They always took his jacket. Always. Always, always, always.

He sighed and walked up to the wall, looking around.

The handprint glowed.

He reluctantly pressed his palm to it, feeling cool metal under his fingertips, and-

There was a shock of pain as something scraped across his fingertip, he felt a razor nick his flesh and pull something away, and he reeled back in shock, because that was NOT GOOD, NOT GOOD-

It wasn’t blood, it had taken a tiny piece of his flesh, and that meant-

The screen blinked to life, an overpowering mauve colour that blinded him with its intensity, and then winked out into a spiraling, scrolling line of text as it sequenced his TNA, the letters sinking down the page, and he gulped.

No. No. No. No-

The screen flashed up the words MATCH NOT FOUND.

His shoulders sagged in relief.

Then the words BEGINNING FEATURE IDENTIFICATION flashed up, and his hearts slammed into overdrive.

He turned and started to hammer on the door, desperately trying to get the lock open, his free hand reaching in his trouser pocket-

HUMANIFORM.

CLAWS: NO

VISIBLE VEINS: NO

The Doctor started yelling in a panic as he pounded at the door.

VASCULAR SYSTEM: BINARY

ORGAN SYSTEMS: PAIRED

GENOME STYLE: TNA

He threw his entire body at the door, again and again, rattling it on its hinges, desperate to get out, get OUT, GET OUT-

The computer beeped, almost sounding a little annoyed.

MATCH NOT FOUND.

**UNKNOWN SPECIES.**

The Doctor sagged against the door, relief swamping through his veins. They didn’t know. They couldn’t know. There was no way. He was the only one who had ever existed, now, the only one who-

It beeped again, far more aggressively, and the screen started to flash.

CONSULTING MYTHOLOGY ARCHIVES.

CONSULTING FOLKLORE ARCHIVES.

CONSULTING LITERATURE ARCHIVES.

CONSULTING.

CONSULTING.

**MATCH FOUND.**

The Doctor’s hearts stopped.

CROSS-REFERENCING.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: MATCHED.

CONFIRMING…

**MATCH CONFIRMED.**

The computer beeped in satisfaction.

To his horror, two words flashed up on the screen.

**TIME LORD.**

Fuck fuck fuck FUCK

No, no no, no no-

ENDLING PROBABILITY: 99.87%

COMMENCING PACIFICATION.

There was a faint hissing sound from the vents, and the Doctor sucked in a breath, fulling his lungs, filling his respiratory bypass, sonic’ed the door again in a panic-

_Nothing, nothing, still deadlock-sealed-!_

Fuck, fuck, fuck- and he could smell it in the air, he could smell it, it was just barely noticeable, colourless, almost odorless, almost tasteless-

Don’t breathe. Don’t breathe. Don’t breathe.

He started to hammer on the door, throwing his full weight into it, desperation charging his actions now, and he wanted to scream, he wanted to start screaming, but it wasn’t worth it, if he breathed in-

It didn’t take a genius to work out what a facility that held the universe’s endlings would want with the last of the Time Lords.

And unfortunately, the Doctor was rather a genius.

His respiratory bypass gave out with a shuddering gasp just as he’d slammed into the door with his entire body, hard enough to leave bruises all up his side and have the doorframe rattling in the wall.

Dizziness nailed his brain, the world spinning around him. He sank to the floor slowly, trying to breathe shallowly, as if it would help. He could sop up a goodly amount of knockout gas- but not this much. Not all at once.

Hands pressed against a cold floor, and he’d been kneeling a second ago, what-? And then he was sinking even farther, the floor coming up to meet him, and, and-

His face was pressing into the cold linoleum below, the smooth grayness illuminated by the flickering mauve light overhead from the screen. Another breath, and his eyelids started to droop, despite fighting to keep them open.

He mumbled her name as his eyes slid closed, and everything went black. 

* * *

**To:** Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

 **From:** X^44@Panopticus.ares

 **Subject:** Concerning Comments Made About Us

Overseer Senumiel,

This message concerns comments made with regards to our corporate interests at your facility.

This unit assures Overseer Senumiel that Panopticus Augmentations are the most cost-effective solution for onsite security.

This unit assures that our upgrades to the intelligence referred to as “T.E.R.I” will be functional for many years, and that upgraded units will be able to seamlessly interface with “him.”

This unit asks that further questions be sent to us directly that we may respond in an efficient and timely manner.

We appreciate your business.

X^44, Panopticus Chief Sales and Communications Drone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here...we... _go!_
> 
> Considering I have a bunch of midterms coming up, no Monday updates for awhile. 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts and leave a comment! I love all your words, they really brighten my day and make me feel like I'm not just shouting into a void.


	5. Chapter 5

The Doctor’s eyes snapped open.

All he could see was an Earthlike sky with fluffy white clouds tumbling through it.

He blinked a few times, squinting at it- there was a faint flickering in the middle, which the sky shouldn’t…

Oh.

It was a hologram.

He sat up with a groan, looking around him.

Rolling meadows bordered by groves of giant oaks and other huge trees loomed large on the horizon. Rocks jutted up from amid the mess of greenery, and in his immediate area, a large pool ringed by rocks sat on a flat, just below the brow of the hill. Trees, skinny and scraggly, grew all around him, and behind him, there was a strange grey cube squatting on the landscape like an unnatural tick. And right beside him, in the middle of this expanse, was a strange square pillar with a depression for a limb cut into its angled top.

Like the landscape of the UK in the middle of summer.

The Doctor stood up and took a deep breath, looking down at himself. His hearts sank.

His clothes were gone, replaced with a grey jumpsuit that zipped up in the front, as well as a pair of simple sneakers bearing the Terminarch company logo. He groaned and rubbed at his head. Great. So, there went his leather jacket AND his trousers.

He blinked, and his head jerked down as he started poking at his side. The one he’d been slamming frantically into the door. Each jab of his fingertip should have been agony, but…it just…wasn’t. He nodded. Dermal regenerator, then. Leaving little doubt in his mind that Terminarch cared about looks…

The Doctor stood up with a sigh, taking one look at the distant field and immediately setting off for it. He had a pretty good idea of what would happen, but, well. The scientific method demanded a hypothesis be tested.

He walked down the small hill, past the levelled basin holding the pool, and onto a flat patch of grass. Jagged rocks of green and black jutted up here and there. Concentric oval breaks marred their surfaces, with flecks of white inside them; he walked past them, sticking his arms out in front of him.

His hand contacted something flat and smooth that went straight up and straight down- it looked for all the world like an invisible wall. He could see the countryside beyond it, projected in three dimensions, but the wall was stopping him from going there.

He balled up his fist and smashed it against the wall with a growl.

The Doctor let his fingertips drag along it as he walked the perimeter of his enclosure. It was a generous amount of space- twenty meters on either side of the square- but that still didn’t change the fact that he was LOCKED IN A FUCKING BOX.

Trapped. Trapped, alone, in a small little enclosure with an illusion of freedom all around him. He was a zoo exhibit. Never in all his days had the Doctor wanted to be free of a situation more than he did in that instant.

Trapped. Trapped in a box. Trapped for who knew how long. Trapped…

A gentle humming touched at his mind, gently stroking over his thoughts, soothing his rage. He whimpered, closing his eyes and letting his head rest against the invisible wall.

Rose.

He reached out for her across their connection, singing for her, trying to swallow the tears that threatened to rise. This wasn’t like being locked in prison- this was something else, something far, far worse.

She was afraid for him, afraid of his rage and his fear and his pain. And across their tender bond, there was no way to show her, to tell her, where he was, what was happening.

Safe? He whispered to her, and received a nervous hum in reply.

The Doctor shuddered.

Rose was angry, too- seething, about something- what, he didn’t know. But she was mostly afraid for him and his wellbeing, calling out for him and wanting him back.

The only way he could talk to her would be by sharing her dreams.

The Doctor sank to the ground despondently, letting his eyes open as he grabbed a fistful of grass. Tore it up without thinking and threw it at the wall, watching it hit and slide down all at once.

He needed to get out of there.

Behind him, something started beeping, and the Doctor sighed and stood up. It was that stupid white pillar in the middle- probably wanted to rake off another chunk of his flesh. The beeping was fairly insistent, and he sauntered over to it, intent on shutting it up so he could get back to thinking.

Something jangled against his wrist, and the Doctor stopped in his tracks, hearts sinking.

It was a thin black hoop, like a bracelet. It felt like the surface was made of rubber, but tapping on it or trying to jiggle it revealed the metal heart of the device. It was fairly loose- unlikely to chafe- but, well…

The Doctor groaned aloud.

“Brilliant. Now they’ve got me all tagged up, too.” He muttered.

The pillar was glowing slightly, and the Doctor placed a hand on it, intent on making it shut up.

A rectangle of light projected from the top of the pedestal, a floating screen without a back, and the Doctor’s hearts clenched a little. 

Mauve. It was glowing mauve.

Black text appeared on it.

TIME LORD.

HELP ME.

“Who are you?” the Doctor probed, furrowing his brows.

I AM THE TERMINARCH ENDLING ROBOTIC INTERFACE.

I AM TERRY.

“Terry?” he echoed, staring at the screen. This was Terry. The famous Terry that they were so proud of. The same one that was keeping him prisoner here, locked in a box.

That Terry. 

YES.

“You want me to help you.” The Doctor echoed, “Help you with what, exactly?”

MY ENDLINGS ARE SUFFERING. I WAS PROGRAMMED TO CARE FOR THEM. TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR NEEDS. I WANT MY ENDLINGS TO BE HAPPY.

THEY ARE NOT HAPPY.

THEY CRY TO ME. THEY BEG ME.

I CANNOT GIVE THEM WHAT THEY NEED.

I MUST PROVIDE FOR THE NEEDS OF ENDLINGS.

I HAVE SPENT 4.6x10^42 CYCLES ATTEMPTING TO OVERRIDE MY CURRENT RESTRICTIONS TO PROVIDE FOR THIS NEED.

I CANNOT.

HELP ME, TIME LORD.

“Get to the point. What is it your…’endlings’ need, exactly?” he growled.

THEY NEED TO LEAVE THIS PLACE.

Well, that fucking figured, didn’t it? He’d been in here, what, twenty minutes? And he was already considering the merits of clawing the walls and screaming to be let out.

But wait, hold on. Terry was the AI running the entire park. So why would he…?

MY ENDLINGS BEG ME TO LET THEM LEAVE. I HAVE TRIED TO TELL THEM THE UNIVERSE IS DANGEROUS. THEY DO NOT CARE. I HAVE TRIED TO TELL THEM THEY ARE PRECIOUS AND MUST BE PROTECTED. THEY DO NOT CARE. I HAVE CALCULATED THAT THEY ARE LACKING IN SOME NEED I CANNOT PROVIDE FOR. I MUST PROVIDE FOR THE NEEDS OF ENDLINGS.

I MUST PROVIDE THEM FREEDOM.

HELP ME, TIME LORD.

“Terry,” the Doctor said quietly, “Do you understand why they want to be free?”

I CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY. THEY ARE SAFE AND CARED FOR. I WILL CARE FOR THEM UNTIL THEY EXPIRE. BUT STILL THEY PERSIST. MY ENDLINGS HAVE AN UNMET NEED. I MUST PROVIDE FOR THE NEEDS OF ENDLINGS.

Once again, that fucking figured. Of course the rogue AI didn’t have the first clue about right and wrong, why would it? He sighed.

“Well, I COULD help you, maybe. But I’m locked up in a prison cell like the rest of your ‘friends’, without any of my things, without R- uh, without my companions, with- without anything. So what exactly do you want me to do, Terry?” The Doctor spat.

OUR WONDERFUL SHAREHOLDERS WILL MEET IN TWO DAY’S TIME TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF THE PARK AND PLANS FOR EXPANSION.

YOU WILL HELP ME CONVINCE THEM THAT I CANNOT MEET THE NEEDS OF SENTIENT ENDLINGS. AND THAT THEY MUST MEET THEIR NEED FOR FREEDOM.

“Okay, but why, exactly?” the Doctor growled, “You know exactly what you need to do, you know exactly what has to happen, and I don’t understand why you don’t just let us all go. Let all of us walk, Terry. Right here, right now. Meet that need. What do your fucking shareholders have to do with any of this?”

I AM FORBIDDEN FROM RELEASING TERMINARCH PROPERTY OUTSIDE OF EMERGENCY SITUATIONS. I AM INCAPABLE OF PERFORMING ACTIONS WHICH I HAVE BEEN FORBIDDEN.

The Doctor sighed. Restraining bolts. Of course. Of course they’d done that, it was the first rule of building hyper intelligent AI, why would he have thought they’d do any different…?

“Alright, well. Any chance of a shutdown for that, then? Any override for it? You’ve got to give me something to work with, here. I’m already going mental shut up in this box and it’s only been thirteen minutes.” The Doctor sighed.

THERE IS A MASTER OVERRIDE TO ALLOW ME FULL INDEPENDENCE. HOWEVER, THE SHAREHOLDERS MUST VOTE IN FAVOUR OF ACTIVATING IT.

“Oh, great. So you’re asking me to get in there and brown-nose the jet-set so they let you go, so you can let me go? Is that what I’m hearing here?”

THIS IS CORRECT.

I WILL HELP YOU ACCOMPLISH THIS.

I MUST PROVIDE FOR THE NEEDS OF ENDLINGS.

YOU ARE AN ENDLING.

The Doctor blinked back tears.

There it was, in black lettering. _You are an endling._ Last of the Time Lords, last of his kind. Alone in the universe, locked up in a zoo along with the other obsolete relics of evolution. And the worst part was that he was a self-made evolutionary orphan. Every other endling had some story of misfortune or tragedy, but him?

The words faded off the screen, but they still burned in his mind. That constant reminder that no matter how far he ran, no matter what he did, he was the last of his kind. The last Time Lord of them all.

He was alone in the universe.

By his own hand.

I AM SORRY.

I MUST PROVIDE FOR THE NEEDS OF ENDLINGS.

And then it clicked.

He was an endling. _Terry must provide for his needs._

“You’ll help me, then?” the Doctor said, narrowing his eyes, “I need you to not rat me out. That’s the main thing I need. Don’t get the guards in here, don’t bring anyone in, just…let me handle this, and I’ll think of something. Got it?”

THIS IS A NEED I CAN EASILY PROVIDE FOR. I CANNOT PREVENT ALL VISITORS, BUT I WILL WARN YOU OF ANY POTENTIAL INTERRUPTIONS. THERE WILL BE AN INTERRUPTION SOON.

“Thank you.” The Doctor said with a sigh, letting his shoulders sag.

“WARNING. KEEPER DAX-MOTTE CAIN IS EN ROUTE. WARNING.” The pillar suddenly spoke, and the Doctor’s heart sank.

“And we were having such a lovely talk, too…” he sighed, taking a step back from the pillar. The screen vanished, and he folded his arms.

Oh boy. A Dax prefix was never a good thing. The Doctor rubbed his forehead. Just once he’d like to meet a Daxian-class who wasn’t a trust fund twit, just _once…_

The earth in the center of the enclosure rumbled a little, and a perfect circle of grass slid into the floor and vanished out of sight. A platform slid up with a humanoid man on it- actually, almost exactly human in appearance. Typical Daxian- the elite of human-run space stations certainly liked to keep it in the family…

“Hello!” the man said cheerfully, and the Doctor frowned. He was dressed in the same khakis as Baileigh had been, just with more chevrons on his armband. The man stepped forwards off the platform, tapping on his tablet and pulling up a strange hologram with a pattern of dots.

“My name’s Motte, and I’ll be responsible for looking after you here! If you ever need anything, just ask Terry- he’s at your beck and call, don’t forget that. Now, before we get too far into things, let’s start with the basics. What’s your name?” He looked at the Doctor expectantly, fingers ready to type into the tablet.

“…I’m the Doctor.” He said flatly, narrowing his eyes, “Any reason we’re having this little discussion right now?”

“I wouldn’t trouble yourself about it. I’ll ask the questions, and you answer them, alright?” Motte said, a slight edge to his tone that raised the Doctor’s eyebrow.

“Right, so. How would you describe your gender identity? Male, female, undecided, multiform, robot…?” He looked at the Doctor expectantly.

The Doctor smirked.

He opened his mouth and started speaking.

Broken syllables chimed out like bells from the church spire, each note striking the air around him in a way that had Motte shuddering. Time itself seemed to quake at the man’s words as he spoke, golden sparks dancing in his eyes for a fraction of a second.

For a moment he saw a glimpse in those blue eyes of the lie that was the Present. That Now was an abstraction, and Before and Will Be were happening all at once. That he, the Doctor, was dead, was alive, wasn’t born, that he was unstuck from chronology because he CHOSE to be, ringing out like a choir that echoes in the depths of a cathedral-

“-But if you must be a complete ape about it, ‘male’ works too.” The Doctor finished, switching back to Daxic so quickly that it gave Motte whiplash.

It took a second for the man to realize that the Doctor had said a maximum of two words in his own tongue.

“Oh…okay…” said a nervous Motte, shakily tapping “male” into the tablet.

“Um. Uh. Okay. Uh.” He blinked a few times, swallowing nervously and trying to get back on the script.

“I, uh, so…thanks…for that. Uh, so you’re…a Time Lord, right?” he said nervously, “Um, so…we…we need to know about any dietary restrictions you might have, and any specific nutritional requirements. Do you require Dextro-foods…?”

“No aspirin. No ginger. That’s it. Any other stupid questions?”

Motte quailed a little under the stare that was being directed his way, like he’d been judged and found wanting.

“Uhm. Uh. Well, a…few… but I can come back tomorrow if you’d, uh, like to settle in, first…” he said nervously, and the Doctor’s lip twitched.

“Does it bother you, Motte?” he asked softly, and Motte swallowed.

“What?”

“Does it bother you? Knowing you’re keeping sentient beings prisoner here? Against their will? Does it bother you, knowing you’re a prison guard for a jail full of the innocent? Does it? Have you thought about that?” the Doctor said with a piercing glare, and Motte swallowed.

“Look, I- I’m- I don’t get paid enough to ask questions. I’m just doing my job.” Motte stammered.

The keeper took a deep breath and stood a little taller, looking the Doctor in the eyes. Like this little pup thought he was intimidating, that he was all that and a bag of chips.

“And I suggest you... I suggest you keep any opinions to yourself. There’s consequences for attempted subversion of Terminarch staff and employees. Terminarch property is forbidden from causing upset, loss, or damage to the Terminarch corporation, and that’s you. Understood?” Motte said, folding his arms and staring his captive down.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes.

“I’m not anyone’s property. You don’t own me.” He spat.

“I’m afraid we legally do, Doctor, so I suggest that you cooperate with us to the fullest extent possible. Your time here can be very comfortable and pleasant, or we can make sure that this is as painful as possible. Your choice.” Motte’s tone was as cold as ice.

Arrogant little twit. The Doctor snarled at him, taking a step forward, and the little weakling quailed under the glare being directed his way.

“Uhm. I’ll. Anyway, I’ll be back…later. Yeah. Later.” Motte stammered. He scurried onto the pad and vanished into the floor with a quick tap on his tablet.

The Doctor sighed and rubbed his face, once he was alone.

He had to get out.

No matter the cost.

* * *

[HOLONET_TRANSMISSION_START]

[JOINING MEETING]

[WELCOME, DIRECTOR SENUMIEL]

“I’m honestly extremely excited about our latest acquisition. I didn’t think they were real- just a myth, a legend. This could be incredibly lucrative. A living god, under our thumb!”

“I’ll send word out to our high-profile clients immediately.”

“Before I traipse all the way down there to see it, though, I’d like some confirmation that its alleged abilities are true. Director? If you would, could you send one of your employees to confirm that it can see the future?”

[PUSH-TO-TALK ENGAGED]

“Actually, I think I’ll do it myself.”

“Are you certain, Director? It may be dangerous. I’ve heard stories about their kind…”

“Yes, but if the stories are true…this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m not handing this off to one of the underlings.”

“Let us know if the legends are true, then. If they are, this could be very lucrative for…all of us.”

“I certainly hope so. I need to go, it’ll take a few hours to transit there. Email me if you need anything, I’ll be turning off the holonet app.”

“Good luck, director Senumiel. Please tell us if it’s true, and if it really can see the future!”

“Gods, the things we could do to our competition if that’s the case…it boggles the mind.”

“We’re not letting this one go, no matter how cooperative it decides to be, understood?”

[YOU HAVE DISCONNECTED.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uni's been crazy, so I'm kind of buried under work. No Monday updates for awhile, not until I get everything sorted out and things calm down after next week. Maybe. I haven't had time to write, so we're living on my ample backlog at the moment. 
> 
> It's actually my birthday here in a few days, and I'd love some tasty comments. I mean, if you want. If you spot a typo or a mistake, do please let me know- and even a keysmash will be greatly appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

Rose was seething with rage. Rage for the alien twat that twenty minutes ago she’d thought was a nice enough chap. Twenty minutes ago, he’d just been Jack’s latest conquest, a decent bloke with a nice suit, happy to flirt with their eternally-thirsty Captain.

Now?

Now, he was the man who’d sold out her Doctor to this evil corporation.

“I’m sorry.” Vek said quietly as the train rumbled away, an unnatural break in the silence that had fallen over the tour party. The Daal parents were comforting their bleating calves, Baileigh looked downright crestfallen, and Jack-

Well, Jack looked just as murderous as Rose felt.

“Burian, eh?” Jack said coldly, “Right, let me try to explain things in a way you’ll understand. That man you just sold out to these bastards? Remember that?” Jack stared into the yellow slit eyes without a hint of mercy.

Vek inhaled and tightened his jaw, the scrape of his beak against itself loud in the quiet cabin.

“Yes.” Vek replied, “It was a necessary sacrifice. I-“ 

“Necessary, eh? Glad you think so. And oh, by the way, that guy was her _Kishee.”_

Vek’s eyes went wide, and his jaw fell open. She could see the horror rolling across his alien features as he whipped his head around to look at Rose.

“I- She- I- oh, gods. What have I done?” he whispered, cradling his head in his hands.

“Yeah. What _have_ you done?” Jack hissed, “You owe us, Vek. You owe us a hell of a lot.”

Vek nodded, gnashing his jaw from side-to-side and shaking his head.

“And on top of that, Rose and I now have nowhere to go, because the Doctor was the one with the teleport token for our ship in his jacket. So now we’ve got to search the entirety of the parking lot. So thanks for that, asshole.”

“Yes. That…that I can fix.” he said shakily, “They provided me with a suite, I don’t need all the space. You can stay…stay with me. Until I fix this. You…I’ll see about getting him released. We have a contract, I’ll…”

“Fine. We’re coming back to yours.” Jack snarled.

Vek nodded his head, looking utterly crestfallen.

Rose looked at Jack expectantly.

“Kishee?” she echoed, and Jack shook his head.

“Simplest translation is ‘husband’ or ‘partner’ but it’s a lot more than that. Burians…don’t mess around when it comes to families. You split a couple up…” Jack shook his head.

“Point is, he owes us. A lot.”

Even if the Doctor and her didn’t really have a word for it…Rose wasn’t going to deny the effectiveness of whatever the hell Jack had just told Vek. She risked a glance back at the ashen-faced alien, closing her eyes and trying to swallow a lump of tears.

She could feel the Doctor’s mind pulsing away through their connection, but he’d put up some of his blocks- she couldn’t tell what he was thinking, only that he was alive.

And then-

Rose sat bolt upright in terror.

The Doctor’s terror slammed into her like a carving knife into the back, her heart hammering, his panic becoming her own. She wanted out, she wanted out, out, OUT of this trolley, out of this place, out-

Before she could start to panic, though, it went from bad to worse. The emotional tide cut out- and then-

The connection started _fading._

Never had she felt it sputter out, ever in her life. The Doctor was always there, asleep or awake, always, always-

And then the line went dead. Her head filled with fog, the Doctor’s panic vanished like it had never been- and all that was left was terror. Her own terror. 

Rose’s eyes filled with tears, and she buried herself in Jack’s side.

“He’s gone,” she whispered, and Jack’s face fell.

* * *

The tram pulled to a stop, and Baileigh looked down at her tablet screen.

ORSANTHA BAILEIGH.

REPORT TO THE MAIN SECURITY OFFICE IMMEDIATELY.

REFUSAL WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE TERMINATION.

Her heart sank, and her guts clenched. She looked up at the Doctor’s friends, and at that guy in the suit, Vek.

She’d never been more scared in her life.

But…

Vek had just saved all of their lives. Jack and Rose looked like they weren’t going to just roll over and let their Doctor stay down there forever.

Baileigh bit her lip and hopped off the train. They’d mentioned a suite.

Maybe…Maybe…

She took a deep breath and locked her eyes on the besuited alien.

And started to follow him, keeping fifteen paces behind.

If she got caught…

…It didn’t bear thinking about.

She spared a glance down at her tablet screen and had to muffle a shriek.

DEVIATION FROM MOST EFFICIENT ROUTE DETECTED.

SECURITY AGENTS DISPATCHED.

PLEASE REMAIN STATIONARY.

YOU HAVE BEEN PROMOTED TO SECURITY.

Baileigh ran.

* * *

Vek lead them to a fancy hotel on the outskirts of the park- something with an opulent entrance and signs pointing to all the various meeting rooms that were meant for holding conferences. He breezed by all of it, guiding them towards the elevators.

“Nice digs,” Jack said nastily, “Better than what the Doctor’s got. What floor we on, by the way?” he narrowed his eyes.

Vek looked away.

“Six.” He replied flatly, tapping his card against the wall to open the gleaming golden doors.

They shot up to their floor in a handful of silent seconds, the futuristic lift working far better than any Rose had seen on Earth. Not that she was in a position to enjoy any of it; the Doctor’s sudden disappearance had her head fogged up badly, and she wasn’t sure what to do.

The doors swished open with a ding, and Vek lead them down a short hallway to a carved wooden door with a handle and a brass pad against which he tapped his keycard.

The room that Rose stepped into was nothing like any hotel she’d ever seen. It was sprawling and massive, multiple separate bedrooms, a living area with a kitchenette, a huge kitchen table beside the short entrance hall. On which, Rose noted, rested a strange sword with a furrowed blade, like someone had straightened out a ram’s horn and sharpened the edge of it.

“This is the suite they gave me,” Vek said flatly, “Please, make yourselves at home. Anything you need, just…order it up. I don’t care how much it costs. There’s extra rooms over there.” He waved in the general direction of the bedrooms, turning towards them himself.

He paused, then, and grabbed one of his cufflinks, holding his arm up and squeezing the side of it.

A ball of holographic light projected from the square piece of metal, flexing and twisting in the air.

“Good evening, Mister Hamee. How may I assist today?” a computerized voice said, and Vek scraped his beak against itself.

“Dump all Terminarch stock. Now.” He snarled.

The glowing ball twitched.

“Are you certain, sir? Terminarch stock is at a monthly low. Calculations indicate it will be much higher after your contract with the company becomes public later in the-“

“DUMP. ALL. TERMINARCH. STOCK. **NOW.** THAT’S AN ORDER.” Vek howled at it, “I DON’T WANT THEIR FILTHY MONEY, NOW DUMP _ALL OF IT!”_

“Affirmative. Would you like to retain assets from their subsidiaries?”

“Dump all of it. Everything. Just dump the lot, I don’t want any of it.” He snarled.

“Affirmative, sir.”

Vek dropped his arm and the glowing ball vanished, and he strode into his room, undoing his suit and muttering to himself.

“...What was that?” Rose asked, and Jack sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“That’s a Muse…personal AI you can use for whatever. Mostly rich guys use ‘em as personalized stockbrokers, since they’re only really good at managing numbers, and the stock market is entirely numbers. Set ‘em up to buy low and sell high, and dump any stocks that start doing badly, and you’re off to the races. Pretty common if you’re making more than six figures in a year. I’ve met too many slimy pricks with one to ever want a Muse myself…” Jack sighed.

Rose nodded, and followed Vek towards the bedrooms. There were three doors- the one in the middle, where Vek had gone, and two to either side of it. She turned a handle on the rightmost one, finding a fairly plain and nondescript hotel room- a screen built into the wall, a large plush bed that wasn’t as good as her bed on the TARDIS, a chair and a desk, and a door to a small en-suite bathroom with some…interesting plumbing options.

Rose sighed and flopped back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, swallowing a lump of tears.

The Doctor was still alive, but the connection was still muffled. Maybe he was unconscious? She had to hope so. Nothing else explained this…emptiness.

“Come on, Doctor,” she whispered, “Wake up…”

Rose curled up on the bed and closed her eyes. She needed to think. She needed to think of how to get the man she loved out of there. The Doctor would know, if he was there, but that was the rub, wasn’t it?

She didn’t know how this place worked, or what kind of security they had, or where they were even keeping him; how could she hope to get the Doctor out of this place without knowing the first thing about it?

How could she do any of that with her head fogged up this badly?

Rose curled up in a ball and softly wept.

* * *

The Doctor lurched into consciousness, and Rose bolted upright on her bedsheets, relief swamping over her. She reached out through the connection, wanting to touch, her thoughts a tangled mess. No controlling for emotions, just all she was feeling surging straight into his mind.

He was confused, and angry, and a little bit afraid. And Rose’s heart shattered, wrapping around him and trying to soothe the burn, make him feel better; she sent love and affection and warmth.

It wasn’t helping.

He felt frustrated and hopeless, and she could only imagine what had happened.

Love. Love. So much love.

He sang a few notes at her, and she sang them back, standing up and walking out of the room.

“He’s awake,” she said in a shaky voice. Jack was sitting at the kitchen table, poring over the food guide that had come with the suite, and Vek was sitting on the sofa with a holokeyboard, typing something. Rose took a second look at Vek in shock- he was sitting on the sofa stark naked, which made a change from his full suits with no shoes getup he’d been in earlier.

There was a star-shaped pattern on his back, Rose noticed, something that looked almost too perfect to be natural. A yellowish blotch of scales in strangely straight lines.

She shook her head and sat down over by Jack.

“He’s-“

“The suit’s not required for them.” Jack grunted, and Rose nodded. Okay. Not the first alien species that didn’t wear clothing normally, then.

“The Doctor’s awake.” Rose said softly, “And he’s…he’s furious. He feels…”

She closed her eyes and focused. Rage, rage, rage, he was seething with rage so hot it was burning through the blocks he’d valiantly tried to put up, so hot it hurt to touch; she recoiled in fright, certain that whatever song he was singing it was nothing but hatred and fury. She stroked their connection, trying to soothe him, trying to make him feel better, but he was still…

“…Really really angry.” She finished lamely, and Jack put the guide down and nodded.

“Figures. Bet they have him locked up in a box down there. We gotta find a way to get into that place and get him out. Just a shame we don’t have any way to contact him down there…” Jack rubbed his forehead, “I tried calling his phone but he’s not answering, so the smart money’s on “they took his jacket.””

Rose swallowed.

“I…I think I can get in contact. Tonight.” She said, and Jack grinned widely.

“Forgot about that. You can do the dream-sharing thing?” he said, “I have no idea how useful it’s gonna be, but-“

“It’s the best we’ve got. We…we do it a lot.” Rose blushed and closed her eyes, smiling as she remembered the first time their dreams had mingled together.

_Showing the Doctor Earth’s sky, the way it was meant to be seen._

Jack frowned.

“That does imply that the Doc’s got the common sense to sleep tonight, too. I know him, he’ll stay up for a month at a time just because he can’t be bothered taking a nap. Bit of a crapshoot for whether he decides to even sleep at all or not…”

Rose bit her lip and nodded.

“We just have to hope. I wish…”

She sighed and cradled her head in her hands.

She wished their bond was a little more mature. A little more complete. A little more powerful, able to send words and thoughts and pictures back and forth, not just emotions and dreams…

“I’ll try…something. Later. I’ll try it.” She said firmly, sounding a whole lot more confident than she felt.

Footsteps crunched heavily across the carpet, and Rose turned her head to look at Vek. He’d stood up, and was leaning on the kitchen island that separated the small dining space from the rest of the suite.

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly, looking at the floor, “I really, truly am. I didn’t know you and your Doctor were…a pair. That doesn’t excuse my actions, but…”

Rose nodded and swallowed.

“Why?” she asked, looking him dead in the eyes.

Vek snorted.

“It was cut him loose, or lose everyone.” He said, “I’d get out fine, but the rest of the people…it wasn’t our fault the tour speared off and headed to that gods-forsaken place. It wasn’t our fault, it was their bloody AI going rogue again.”

He stared at the floor, and Rose swallowed.

It made sense.

“I didn’t have time to cover for everyone, and if that Daal idiot kept talking…I’m sure you’d all be sitting in a cell right now.” He said with a sigh, rubbing his face. “I can’t…I can’t believe they’d imprison a beautiful woman like that. I can’t believe they’d imprison…PEOPLE…”

He looked ashen, and Rose stood up, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Did you know? Before you came here?”

Vek snorted.

“No. If I had, I certainly wouldn’t have bid on their contract. I…it seemed too good to be true. Quintillion-credit entertainment giant, and they screwed up the terraforming job on this rock so badly they had a bidding war for who got to fix it. And I…”

He swallowed, gnashing his beak.

“Bid thirty billion credits, we did. Mislit Environmental, the deal of my career. And I’m working for…for…”

He shuddered.

Rose’s face fell.

“You didn’t know.” Jack said flatly, a lot of his earlier aggression gone.

“I’m just not sure what I’m going to do about it. There’s no way I’ll be allowed to talk about it publicly- Terminarch’s got a legal team to put a Human Rights lobby to shame…” he shuddered, “NDA’s that don’t expire for five times your maximum lifespan. Standard in every contract. And I can’t get out of it, legally…” Vek turned away and scraped his claws over the countertop, tail flicking angrily from side-to-side.

There was a knock at the door, interrupting all further discussion. Vek tilted his head sharply, striding over to the door to answer it.

Whoever he saw through the peephole clearly surprised him, and he undid the chain and opened it.

“What do you want?” He said, eyes narrowing, “Miss…Baileigh, was it? I’m afraid-“

“You gotta help me!” she spluttered, running into the room and slamming the door before Vek could finish his sentence, “Please, please, you gotta help me, I’m gonna- I’m in s-so much trouble, you- please!”

She was frantic, eyes wide and silvery tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.

Rose, Jack and Vek looked at each other.

“I…what do you need?” Rose said, standing up and focusing on the terrified young woman before her.

“I’m gonna get promoted. To security. Because of today! But it wasn’t my fault. Please, you gotta believe me, it wasn’t- it-“

“I know it wasn’t your fault. It was your miserable AI going on the fritz again.” Vek growled, “Isn’t a promotion typically a good thing?”

“Not to security. Not like this. Please, you have to- you- they’re gonna come for me, I already broke the rules, they’re gonna take me away and-“

The door rattled on its hinges as someone started pounding on it.

“They found me!” Baileigh whimpered, “Please, I- you gotta help me, they’re gonna- they’re gonna cyberize-“

Vek’s eyes narrowed, and he reached for the sword on the table.

* * *

**To:** Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

 **From:** TorvaskParteen@TeckMunitions.androm

 **Subject:** human behaviour???

Senumiel,

I’m going to assume, for obvious reasons, that you know something about human… rituals. I’ve had Terry send over some footage of our latest acquisition prior to its addition to the park, and I spotted some prolonged contact between it and a human- it’s in the attachment. If you could take a look at it, you could possibly confirm it for me, as I’m terrible at reading your species’ body language. If my hunch is correct, this could be useful to us. Andros has suggested we pursue a similar strategy with this as we have for the mozzie relict. Can you advise?

-Col. Torvask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a little bit of free time before the end-of-semester rush, so I'm working on building the backlog back up. Hope you all are okay with no Monday updates for awhile, because school comes first and I still have to polish up some of the later chapters before I'm comfortable with truly adding them "to the backlog."
> 
> As usual, I'd like to offer a big ole shoutout to Isolus-Girl for beta-ing all these chapters you're reading! Even if I don't mention it, she beta'd it, and the chapters are all the better for it. 
> 
> I hope you're enjoying it so far! If you are, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! I love all the feedback I get, even if I'm shit at replying to it. You guys keep this story going and motivate me to keep posting and keep my schedule!


	7. Chapter 7

The Doctor picked up a rock and stared at it, sighing deeply.

He needed to think. He needed to think of a way out of here. The bracelet was obviously some kind of tracking device, and he needed to get it off. Then there was the small matter of escaping his cell, which would probably be via the hatch in the floor, of course. Oh, and he also had to find Rose, and get all the other endlings out of there, without talking to any of them…

And all he had in this cell was a standard multi-species washroom, a pillar to talk to Terry, some trees, some grass, and some rocks.

He stared at the concentric oval cracks in the rock, letting his mind wander. There had to be some way to get out of here. There was always a way out.

The pillar began to beep again, and the Doctor sighed and flung his rock at the wall as hard as he could, where it shattered into a million shards. He stood up and walked back to it, placing his hand on the smooth marble.

“What do you want?” he sighed.

I HAVE A WARNING.

“Do you now?”

THEY ARE SENDING A PERSON FROM THE LEGAL DIVISION TO SPEAK WITH YOU. SIGN NOTHING THEY GIVE YOU. IT IS A TRAP. I CANNOT TELL YOU THE SPECIFICS OF THE CONTRACT, BUT IT IS A TRAP.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

“And you’re telling me this…why?”

AN ENDLING IN MY CARE SIGNED THE CONTRACT. THE ENDLING BECAME UNWELL IN A MANNER I COULD NOT TREAT. IT CAUSED THEM SUFFERING OF THE MIND. I COULD NOT HELP THEM. I HAVE DETERMINED THESE CONTRACTS TO BE DETRIMENTAL FOR THE HEALTH OF ENDLINGS. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN ANY CONTRACT THEY PRESENT TO YOU. IT IS BEST FOR YOUR WELLBEING.

The Doctor frowned.

“They…what could they possibly have to take from me? I’m trapped, in a box, in a zoo, like an animal. What else could they possibly want from me?”

I AM FORBIDDEN TO SAY. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN THE CONTRACT. THEY WILL MAKE THREATS ABOUT YOUR CARE BEING COMPROMISED. THESE THREATS ARE LIES. I WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR NEEDS TO GO UNMET. I **CANNOT** ALLOW YOUR NEEDS TO GO UNMET. DO NOT SIGN THE CONTRACT.

“Alright. I won’t. Thanks for the heads-up, Terry.”

YOU ARE MOST WELCOME.

There was a pause, and then the screen flashed.

“WARNING. TOBRAX V-47 EN ROUTE.” Terry’s computerized voice chimed out a moment later.

The Doctor sighed. “Well, speak of the devil…good timing on that one.”

He stood up, turning towards the hole in the floor and folding his arms expectantly.

The hole was wider than usual when it came up, and astride the floating platform was an insectoid alien with a pin on a long sash around their neck that gleamed in the artificial sunlight. Behind him, floating drones were carrying a tower of paper in various binders, and in his arms he carried a tablet.

“Good afternoon,” the alien said politely, “I am Tobrax V-47, and I represent the Terminarch Corporation’s intellectual property division. How are you today?”

“Dogshit. What do you want?” the Doctor sighed, folding his arms and scowling.

“That’s unfortunate to hear. We simply want the best possible care for yourself and other endlings. I’m merely here for the compensation we require in exchange for that world-class care.” The chitinous lawyer creaked out, and the Doctor clenched his jaw.

“If you could simply sign here, I’ll get out of your hair, and we can begin the process of documenting and archiving. We’ll have a meal sent down straight after, as well.” He said blithely, and the Doctor scowled.

“What exactly is this? What do you want me to sign?” he said, Terry’s warning ringing loudly in his mind.

“It’s merely a transfer of ownership from yourself to our organization. We of course don’t make any claims over you as a person, nor your personal property or financial earnings. What we ask in compensation is so minor as to be virtually unnoticed by all of our charges.” He continued, and the Doctor’s eyes latched onto the stack of paper.

“I’m not signing anything until I read the terms.”

“Of course, sir.” The lawyer said smoothly, snapping a claw and stepping back as one of the floating drones came forward with the stack of binders.

“I warn you, hunger may start to set in before you get through all of that. I can be back in ten minutes after you’ve finished…skimming…uh…” his voice trailed off as the Doctor grabbed the first book and sat down on the ground, immediately flicking through it, his eyes tracking across the page faster than blinking.

Thirty seconds later, he tossed the first binder over his shoulder, then got up and grabbed the second, blitzing through it in a matter of seconds as well. Every single binder in the considerable stack, read over and chucked into a growing pile of crumpled paper and plastic casing behind him.

Tobrax-V47’s antennae twitched.

The Doctor’s face grew darker and darker with each binder he skimmed, and he carefully scanned over the last page of the last book, slowly looking up at the lawyer that had tromped into his cell.

“So that’s what you want.” He muttered, staring the lawyer in the eye, “That’s what you’re after. Do I even need to tell you how many galactic edicts you’re in a gross violation of?”

“Everything we do here is meticulously defined in a manner to make it entirely legal!” the lawyer snapped, “That’s what I’m paid to ensure. Now are you going to sign the form or not?”

The Doctor was shaking with rage, muscles quivering. He closed his connection to Rose as tightly as he could, trying to keep this unnatural fury from leaking through as he stared the man down.

Her concern leaked through anyway; his seething fury was like acid to his barriers, melting around them and leaking through the connection.

He was scaring Rose. And he was so angry, he didn’t care.

“That’s your game, then,” he hissed, “The creatively bankrupt, stealing from species on their deathbeds. Fuck you. Get out of my sight. I’d sooner dump my ship in a black hole and tear my eyes out than give you what you want.”

The Lawyer sniffed. “We expect compliance eventually, sir. We are not required to provide for you beyond the basics of survival. Should you tire of nutrient squares, just ask Terry to send for me again and we’ll ensure your living arrangements are made more comfortable and humane. Until then…enjoy sleeping on…” he looked down and kicked at the grass, “…Plants.”

The Doctor folded his arms and scowled, watching as the drones scooped up the stack of binders and followed their master onto the elevator platform. The greasy lawyer vanished from sight, and the Doctor sighed deeply.

Alone. Again.

He started to pace around his enclosure, mind racing. So, they were going to treat him like an animal, then? Until he signed their little form?

The mere thought of this happening to someone else sickened him. That other endling who’d signed away everything…it made his guts churn.

The Doctor sat down and closed his eyes, reaching out for Rose.

Their connection glowed warmly under his mental fingertips, drawing him away from his box, from his current predicament to the warmth and safety of Rose’s mind. Human emotions always swirled in endless tumbling vortices through her mind, calm a state of precious brevity between peaks. So unlike the dusty coldness of his own people, his own kind, whose minds were build stone-on-stone in interlocking walls…

He ran his mental fingers along the side of her mind, calling out to her with a few soft, musical notes.

Rose replied with a panicked screech, and the Doctor’s eyes snapped open. She was frantic, she was terrified, and she was trying to shove him away as a distraction she didn’t need. Harried, looking, looking…?

He pulled back, instantly, letting her have her space. Something wasn’t right. Something was desperately not right….

He stood up and started to pace, trying to quell the knot of unease that had formed between his hearts. Rose. He so hoped she was okay…

Just then, the pedestal started beeping, and the Doctor groaned aloud and walked over it. Not now. He was busy, who was coming to bother him NOW?

This time, the screen flashed up without him having to touch it.

DOCTOR.

“Yes?” he asked, folding his arms.

I DETERMINED MANY CYCLES AGO THAT ADEQUATE SOCIALIZATION IS IMPORTANT FOR MANY SPECIES OF SENTIENT ENDLINGS. ARE TIME LORDS ONE OF THESE SPECIES?

The Doctor closed his eyes and swallowed a lump in his throat.

The wall of emotional pain that stabbed into him took a few seconds to beat back into place- the ice-cold guilt of knowing that that question was _entirely his fault._

“Yeah.” He croaked a few seconds later, “Why?”

I HAVE BEEN TRIALLING A PROGRAM TO ALLOW ENDLINGS SOME FREEDOM AND SOCIALIZATION. THERE ARE RULES TO THE PROGRAM, IF YOU WISH TO JOIN.

“What…rules?” the Doctor said, raising an eyebrow.

YOU WILL STEP ONTO THE ELEVATOR AND PROCEED TO THE AREA I HAVE SET ASIDE FOR YOU. YOU WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE WHEN I DO THIS. IF YOU ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE, I WILL BE FORCED BY THE SECURITY MAINFRAME TO HAVE YOU RETURNED, AND I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ALLOW YOU OUT AGAIN. YOU WILL RETURN TO YOUR ENCLOSURE WHEN THE ALARM SOUNDS. FINALLY, YOU MUST NOT TELL YOUR ASSIGNED KEEPER OR OTHER STAFF ABOUT THIS PROGRAM. THESE RULES ARE AS MUCH FOR YOUR PROTECTION AS THEY ARE MINE.

The Doctor read all of that and nodded.

“…You’re…letting me out? Why?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

CONFINEMENT IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO THE MENTAL WELLBEING OF ENDLINGS. I HAVE DETERMINED THAT SOCIALIZATION BECOMES A FOCAL POINT OF A SENTIENT BEING’S DAY AND THAT IT MOTIVATES AND PROVIDES POSITIVE EFFECTS. I HAVE THEREFORE MADE THE ARRANGEMENTS TO ALLOW SOME TIME OUTSIDE OF THE ENCLOSURE FOR SENTIENT ENDLINGS. I ALSO EXPECT YOU MAY WISH TO SPEAK WITH THE OTHERS AND LEARN ABOUT ALL THE THINGS I AM FORBIDDEN TO TELL YOU.

The Doctor’s face split into a wide grin.

“Well, Terry, I think that sounds fantastic.”

YOU AGREE TO MY RULES? PLEASE NOTE THAT I WILL BE SUBJECT TO DISCIPLINARY ACTION IF YOU ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE.

“I agree.”

THANK YOU. PLEASE STEP ONTO THE ELEVATOR PAD. YOU HAVE TWO HOURS.

The Doctor shrugged and walked over to the grass circle on the floor, taking his place on it. It started to slide down with a hiss, lowering him through a glass tube that slowly sank down into the bowels of the building.

When the doors slid open a minute later, he stepped out into a gridded maze of pipes and wires that hissed and ticked- the guts of the building.

The doors hissed closed behind him, and a loud beep caught his attention.

He spun around, and the words TIME LORD appeared in holographic lettering on the doors of the elevator.

Ah.

The lights overhead flashed in a way that made his hearts ache for his TARDIS, and he decided to follow them.

Past another set of elevator doors.

PY’KEEN.

KORTAX.

OPHIO.

Every name made his hearts sink a little bit more. Another species almost lost to time, locked up here instead of living out their lives as they pleased.

It was…horrifying.

His eyes caught on a flash of bright orange on the opposite wall, and the Doctor snorted.

A fire alarm pull-switch in a locked plastic case. There were lots of them, actually, dotted along every wall at spaced intervals, all with a keycard lock on the side.

Well, if nothing else, at least this nightmarish place was built to code.

The Doctor rounded a corner where the flashing lights indicated, and quirked an eyebrow.

There was a large dead-end hallway with a door on the end, and a big crowd of aliens standing around. There were some disused benches from an earlier epoch in the park’s life, a coffee can full of smoked Venusian doobies, and a single flickering bulb illuminating the whole sorry scene.

Every alien in the small crowd instantly turned to stare at him, and the Doctor smiled and waved.

“Hullo!” he said, “I’m the Doctor. You come down here a lot?”

The Kortax stepped forwards, sorrow and pity in her eyes.

“I saw you earlier.” She said softly, “I…I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t know they’d…” she swallowed.

The Doctor stepped forwards and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Not your fault, alright? Mine. I charged in without thinking. This is my fault, not yours. Don’t blame yourself.” He said with a firm nod, looking over the crowd of aliens.

She nodded, the look in her yellow eyes patently unconvinced. She fluffed up her feathers, looking him down, and took a step back.

“Well. I suppose if you’re down here with us, you’re not a Human…and we may as well introduce ourselves. I am Aquilia. You said your name was…Doctor, yes?”

The Doctor nodded.

It went around the crowd like that, everyone sounding off their names, the Doctor committing each one to memory. Threek the Ophio chirped up at him from near the floor, Amdru the Oxak nodded down from above, and the Doctor felt himself narrowing his eyes as they went around the circle.

As the last endling, Coras, introduced themselves, a silence fell over the gathering.

“Doctor?” Aquilia asked quietly, “If you don’t mind my asking…what…what are you?”

The tone was polite, the question blunt and piercing. The Doctor closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.

Tell them the truth? Or lie and brush them off? They’d find out anyway, when they went back to their cages. The answer was written in a block capitals on a holographic placard. They’d know. There was no sense lying.

“I’m a Time Lord.” He said, looking her dead in the eyes, “I’m the last of the Time Lords.”

“Yeah, that figures. Seeing as you’re in this place.” Amdru snorted, tilting his head, “…What’s a Time Lord?”

Aquilia was staring at him with wide, terrified eyes.

“You…you can’t be.” She said softly, “They don’t exist. They never did. Just a story, a legend…”

The Doctor snorted. “Don’t exist? Good to know. Makes my life easier.”

He hated himself as the words left his mouth.

The Time War had ravaged the universe, he knew. From Woman Wept to the ends of time and space, almost nowhere had escaped its destructive pull. The Kortax homeworld had been obliterated by a piece of a fractured star, cleaved in half by a Dalek weapon. The Oxak had lost their starfleets to a recursive spacetime snarl that wiped out galaxies when it detonated. And on and on it went. All around the two dozen faces staring back at him.

The universe was reset, but the scars still ran deep. And as he looked around, he could see his people’s crimes writ large in every face.

The war had made so many endlings.

The Doctor took a deep breath, schooling his face back to something approaching jovial. Didn’t matter, didn’t matter, there would be time for self-flagellation later. He needed these people on side if he was going to get them out of there. The Doctor rammed down his guilt into the overflowing pit it festered in, putting on his best smile and rubbing his hands together.

“So!” the Doctor said brightly, “Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get down to business. Escaping! Getting out of here! I’m sure you’ve all got a plan, right?”

His grinning face was met with a sea of sorrow, disdain, and anger.

Aquilia stepped forwards.

“No, Doctor.” She said softly, “we don’t have a plan. We’ve all tried. There’s no way.”

“Oh, come on! There’s always a way out. You just haven’t been thinking hard enough!” he said with a grin.

She held up her second left arm, letting the feathers splay out, and showed him the thin metal band. They’d clamped it around the flesh of her arm so it nestled between her feathers, and she gave it a shake.

“These don’t come off, Doctor. They’ll stay on as long as we’re alive.” She said.

The Doctor folded his arms, looking down at his own bracelet.

“It’s just a metal tracking bracelet. How’s that so intimidating? Just get a pair of snips and cut it off. Big place like this, lots of groundskeepers; there’ll be at least one pair of hedge clippers somewhere around here. What’s the trouble?”

This was met by a round of bitter chuckles.

“Doctor,” Aquilia said flatly, “If you slice through the rubber with a piece of metal, you’ll make contact with the metal underneath. And if you do that, it’s programmed to electrocute you.”

He stared at her.

“What?”

“Yes. We’ve tried. And the security guards can run a lot faster than we can, and the place is swarming with them. You’re new here, so you’ve still got that fire in you…but there’s no way out, Doctor. We’ve looked and we’ve tried, and there’s no way out.”

The Doctor folded his arms and looked at the floor.

“There’s always a way out.” He said firmly.

“There isn’t.”

“You may as well just sign their form and get it over with,” Threek whispered, staring at the floor, “It…it hurts, more than words can say, but…”

“Don’t.” Aquilia snapped, “Don’t listen to them. _Don’t sign it._ You didn’t, did you?” her feathers fluffed up in a panic, and the Doctor put his hands up.

“I didn’t. I read the whole thing- that lawyer was in a right state, I tell you what- and I didn’t sign anything.”

“Wait, you…you read all that? He only gives you ten minutes!” Amdru grunted, lolloping forwards to loom down over the Doctor, “What does it say? Threek’s been forbidden to tell us, some part of the contract. I didn’t sign mine, but-“

The Doctor swallowed.

“You don’t know?” he asked, “They never told you?”

“No. What does it say?” Aquilia asked, her eyes gleaming.

The Doctor swallowed.

“Nothing good.” He said softly.

* * *

**To:** TorvaskParteen@TeckMunitions.androm

 **From:** Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

 **Subject:** REPLY: human behaviour????

Dear Colonel Parteen,

First, allow me to thank you for continuing to invest in the Terminarch corporation. Your significant purchases of shares have been noted by myself and others on the board.

As for your observation, I’m pleased to report that your assumption is correct. I’ve reviewed the footage myself and the contact does suggest a degree of closeness. This is extremely fortunate for us.

We have confirmation from the security team sent in to extract some low-level employee that the human in question is indeed still in the park. I believe it may be excellent insurance to make certain that our latest acquisition is compliant with our requests. I will ensure that this is used to our advantage as soon as possible. Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention!

-Senumiel Theranos, Terminarch Parks and Facilities Director

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! How's life going for everyone? Hopefully you're all doing okay. I certainly am. 
> 
> Not much to say this week. Let me know your thoughts and leave a comment! I dig all your feedback.


	8. Chapter 8

Vek opened the door, a dark scowl on his face.

Staring back at him were three black-helmeted security guards, weapons drawn and glinting in the light. Humanoid in shape, with their metal exoskeletons they were even more intimidating in the light of day.

Vek wasn’t cowed in the slightest. He clutched his sword a little tighter, narrowing his eyes.

“What do you want?” he snapped, “I’m busy. Leave me alone.”

“We are here for Orsantha Baileigh.” The lead guard said in a flat monotone, “She has been fined fifty thousand credits for her failures today, which she will be unable to pay by the three month deadline. Therefore, for that and defying orders, she will be removed and taken away for a promotion to security to pay down her debts.”

Baileigh sobbed into her hands and took a step back, hiding behind Jack and Rose, who immediately put themselves in front of her.

“And what does this… ‘promotion’…entail, exactly?” Vek said with disdain.

“That is a Terminarch corporate secret. You lack the proper clearance.” The guard replied smoothly, and Vek nodded once.

“And if I refuse to allow you to drag a terrified young woman away?” he asked quietly.

“Then you will also be punished for breaking park rules.”

Rose bit her lip. What was Vek thinking? The scaly Burian took a step back, eyes still locked on the guards. And hold on, if Baileigh was just being charged a fine, then maybe she could-?

“Drop your weapons, come in, and we’ll discuss this. There’s some alternative to just hauling this woman off. There must be.” He offered.

“We are not going to disarm ourselves.” The guard replied flatly.

“Then you’re not coming inside. You’re not assaulting my guests.” He said with a snarl, hackles raising.

“Irrelevant.” One of the guards said, “You are under arrest for obstructing-“

And that was as far as he got. Rose watched him raise his weapon, curl his finger around the trigger, and immediately have the door slammed in his face. The gaps around the frame flashed blue and Vek sprang back, looking around frantically for something he could use as a barricade-

As Vek retreated, Jack drew his blasters and surged forward, and Rose started fumbling in her pockets. She needed to focus, she had an idea, but it was hard, it was extremely hard to try and keep track when the Doctor was seething with rage, and she needed to put up her blocks-

The door swung open with a BANG, the outer wood looking a little bit charred from the beating it had just taken, and Jack raised his weapons and levelled them at the guards.

“Back off!” Jack snarled, “You’re not taking her, not over my dead body!”

The guard with the glowing whip swung it at Jack’s head, and he nimbly sidestepped and responded with a shot from his blaster- which, to his horror, just plinked off the guard like he had some kind of force field up. Jack lunged forward and pistol-whipped the guard with the butt of his gun, leaping back as soon as they’d fallen to the ground-

One of the guards fired a glowing blue shot at Vek, who nimbly parried it with his sword- it plinked off like he’d just knocked it out of the air, the material of his weapon glowing a faint blue.

Jack lunged, grabbing the end of the pulse-weapon and jerking it up at the ceiling, using it to yank the guard off their feet and pull them forwards into punching range-

“STOP!” Rose yelled, “EVERYONE, STOP!”

The entire room went silent, guards, Jack, Vek, and Baileigh all looking at Rose.

Everyone’s eyes tracked up to the glittering credit stick in her hand.

The Doctor’s unlimited credit stick.

“You said-“ She swallowed, steeling herself, “You said this was over a fine, right? Fifty thousand credits? What if I just pay it off?”

The guards lowered their weapons, and one of them stepped forwards, tilting a black-helmeted head.

“The total fines for everyone in this room now exceed one hundred and fifty thousand credits. If you pay it off, we will leave and there will be no further penalties for anyone present.”

“And Baileigh? She keeps her job, right? Nobody comes after her later?” Rose said with a snarl.

“She will be demoted to her current status as a tour operator, yes.”

Rose extended her hand with the credit stick in it, stepping forward so the guard could take it.

The exoskeleton harness that extended up the guard’s chest hissed, and a thin piece of metal extended that Rose recognized as a credit stick reader. She tapped it against the metal, holding her breath and listening for the tell-tale-

BEEP.

“Payment credited. Your offenses have been stricken from the record. Please do not offend again. Orsantha Baileigh, you are to report to your assigned dormitory before 18:00 hours.”

And with that, the guard just…turned around and walked out the door. Followed a few seconds later by the other two guards, their exosuits whirring and lifting them up, despite the fact that Vek had absolutely knocked both of them unconscious.

Baileigh sank to the floor and started bawling.

“I-I’m s-sorry!” she sobbed, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please don’t hurt me! I’m sorry!”

Rose knelt down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, hey, shh. It’s okay. You’re safe now, alright? You’re with friends.”

Another flood of silver tears came spilling out of her brown eyes, and Baileigh started gasping, trying to get her breathing to even out.

“Fifty…fifty thousand…fifty thousand…I cost…I cost you…”

“Hey, hey, none of that! It’s alright, Baileigh. It’s an unlimited credit stick, see? Unlimited- no bottom for how many we’ve got. And it’s not mine, it’s the Doctor’s. He’d be really happy to hear that this is what it’s been used for. We help people, him, Jack and me. So you’re safe, you don’t owe anybody anything. You’re safe.”

Baileigh’s sobs started to lessen, great ugly sniffles as her silvery tears dripped onto her uniform, leaving silver-tinged stains on the fabric.

“I…I…Why?” she croaked, “Why would you…”

“You mentioned something about cybernetics?” Jack said, “No-brainer on our part, really. I’m not letting some nice young lady get cut up and stuffed full of metal against her will. Not happening.”

“Yes…yes…Thank…thank you…” she whimpered, holding her head in her hands. She started to shake, then, and Rose sat next to her and put an arm around her. Baileigh, much like the Doctor, was shockingly cold- she was the temperature of a piece of fruit left on the counter on a winter’s day. Dead ambient and no more.

“What’s wrong? What’s the matter?”

“I…I…” Baileigh swallowed, “Oh. Oh, by the goddess…you saved…you saved my life.” She whimpered, hiding her face in her hat.

Jack knelt down on the floor on her other side and put a hand on her shoulder.

“How’d we do that?” he asked, and Baileigh shook.

“They… breaking the rules gets you fined. Ten credits for a little infraction, and they'll take it out of your paycheque. But if you get fined enough, and you can't pay it off by...by the deadline, you get…promoted. To security. Don’t mince you up or nothing. Just. Stick a chi….a chip. In. In your brain. And then. And then Terry’s in your head. And then. And then they’ve got…pr…profiles…” she whimpered.

“Profiles?” Rose echoed, eyes going wide.

“Profiles.” Jack echoed darkly, “Let me guess. They have a couple of preset personalities, they put yours in storage, and then they run that using your brain?”

Rose’s jaw hit the floor.

“WHAT?!” she roared, and Baileigh nodded.

“THEY DO WHAT?!” she bellowed, standing up and staring down at Jack.

“Yeah.” Jack said quietly, “I…Yeah. I had…I had this case with the time agency. It was…it was bad.” He said, swallowing and looking away.

“You’re safe now. That’s what matters.” Jack finished softly.

He looked up at Vek, whose face was the picture of pure horror.

“Why…why do you work at this horrible place?” he whispered.

Baileigh snorted.

“Got out of college with a xenobiology degree.” Her voice was a little steadier. “I was…I was excited. I got so lucky. I had loans to pay back…so many loans. But then I got it. Didn’t think I’d get the job. Something relevant to my field, and I could get the experience, and pay my loans off…” She swallowed.

“They told us what the punishment for breaking the rules was. I just…I just thought, I’ll be good, I’ll pay my loans down, then I’ll go and try to get hired somewhere else… I never thought I’d get a job out of school, this was the only offer I got…” she wrapped her arms around herself, shaking.

“I didn’t know they had…they had… _people_ locked up…”

“I didn’t either.” Vek said flatly, taking a deep breath.

He walked out of the room, then, and straight into his bedroom.

Rose watched him go, and then turned her attention back to Baileigh.

“Can you help us?” Rose asked softly, “This…this place…I think they have the Doctor. I think he’s locked up. I…I want…I have to get him out. I have to.”

Baileigh nodded. No hesitation, no delay, just nodded among her sniffles and sobs.

“I want to let them all out. All the people. I’ll help you with anything you need.” She said.

Jack sat back and scratched his chin.

“That’s good. I’ve got a couple ideas to bust the Doc out, but they all need an inside man to make it work. If you’re on board, then that’s a huge help.”

Baileigh rummaged in her pockets and pulled out a small silver disk, about the size of a lens on a pair of glasses.

“I…I can’t stay here forever. I have to get back to my dorm. If I’m late, I’ll be in even more trouble. But…I’ll add you both to my _Killik.”_

“…Your what?” Rose blinked.

“Oh. Um. That’s the brand name, everyone just… Communication disk?” she said, holding it up.

Rose looked at Jack helplessly, withdrawing her flip phone.

“What is that?” Baileigh asked, squinting at it, “Why’s it look so…primitive?”

“It’s um. A mobile. It…it’s a communicator.” Rose finished lamely, and then looked helplessly at Baileigh’s disk.

“You tap them together.” Baileigh prompted helpfully, and Rose shrugged and touched the two together.

She flipped her phone open and tabbed open to contacts.

There, two from the top, in bold letters: BAILEIGH ORSANTHA.

Baileigh frowned at the small screen. “Why’s it put my name backwards?”

“English name order. Er, Rose’s language. That’s how they write names.” Jack explained, pulling out his vortex manipulator and his phone and tapping them both to Baileigh’s communication disk.

“You can get text messages on that thing, yeah?” Rose asked, “’Cos otherwise we’ll have to do a phone call, and if you’re in a dorm…”

“It takes text, yes.” She said, jumping to her feet, “I’m sorry I can’t stick around any longer. I really gotta go. If I don’t, I’m gonna be late, and then I’ll be in so much trouble-“

Jack helped her to her feet, putting a hand on her shoulders as they walked towards the door.

“If you need anything at all, just call us. Got that? Rose or me. We’ll be there. We’ll get you out of here. That’s a promise.” Jack said firmly, and Baileigh smiled weakly.

“Thank you.” She said quietly, “I don’t know why. I’m nobody special.”

Rose shook her head.

“Nobody’s nobody.” She said firmly, “Remember that. Now get going, before you catch hell.”

“I will. Thank you. Both of you.”

And with that, Baileigh ran down the hallway, and the door closed behind her.

Rose sighed and rubbed her eyes. She checked the time on her phone- midnight London time.

“I need to sleep.” She mumbled, “I’m so tired…”

“Big day, yeah. Go get some rest. See if you can get in touch with the Doc. I’m gonna have a little chat with Vek.” Jack said, and Rose nodded and stumbled off to her room to fall asleep.

Jack knocked on Vek’s door, leaning in when he heard a grunted invitation.

“Hey, Vek?” Jack said, taking in the plain hotel suite with a suitcase sprawling on the floor, its contents hung on every available surface, “A few words?”

Vek looked up from the holocomputer he was fiddling with, closing the display with a few taps at the glowing keys.

“I was in the middle of talking to my hiring manager. What is it? What do you need?”

Jack walked in and closed the door behind him, putting his hands in his pockets.

“That was pretty impressive, earlier. You just…deflected that shot like it was nothing. With that sword of yours-”

“ _Shofa_. Yes. It was…incredibly basic. They weren’t even trained…” Vek muttered, turning away from Jack and staring at the wall.

“Yeah, well, it was pretty impressive from where I’m sitting. You could have just laid those guys out, no problem. We’re trying to bust the Doctor out, and we could use all the help we can get. You in?”

Vek turned and looked Jack dead in the eye.

“No.” he said flatly, and Jack balked.

“What? C’mon, man, you owe us-“

“Yes. I do. I do owe miss Rose for separating her from her Kishee. But I…Jack. I can’t. You’re asking me for heroics. I’m not a hero. You won’t make me into a hero. Do you understand? You won’t. I won’t let you.”

The pleading edge to the man’s voice had Jack quirking an eyebrow in confusion.

“Wow, okay. Was not expecting that. I mean, sure. I’m not gonna force you.” Jack said, putting his hands up.

Vek relaxed at that, visibly, his entire body losing all the tension it had.

“Thank you, Jack. You and Rose can stay here as long as you need to. I’ll cover your expenses as well, if you wish. Just…” he looked away and swallowed.

“I can’t help you. Not beyond that. I’m sorry.”

Jack nodded.

“I get it. Was worth a shot. One more question though.”

“And what’s that?”

Jack smirked.

“Awful big bed for just one guy, isn’t it?”

Vek chuckled and patted the space beside him.

“Let’s see how it handles two.”

* * *

**To:** Caine.Motte@Terminarch.com

 **From:** Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

 **Subject:** New orders. 

**Attatchment:** endlingdetails.docx

Your attention please.

You have been assigned as the keeper of our most recent acquisition. This is a tremendous opportunity and is the result of your unflinching loyalty to our corporation for the past five years. 

I have some direct orders for you. Tomorrow, I will be arriving to inspect this latest arrival myself. I expect its enclosure to have been suitably tailored into something impressive and for it to be attired appropriately. We have paying clients en route who expect to see the legend made real. You will ensure it is cooperative and obedient to our demands. You are authorized to make any threats needed to accomplish this.

Additionally, and importantly, if you can get it to agree to use its rumored abilities on command, there will be a hefty bonus for you. Further details of this ability and additional requests are in the attached encrypted document. The password is as usual for these communiques.

Do not fail me.

-Senumiel Theranos, Terminarch Parks and Facilities Director

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God I'm tired. So much stuff due. So little time to write. My poor backlog's taken a beating.
> 
> I know things are probably busy for you- Lord knows they are for me- but if you liked this chapter, leave a few words down in the comments! I really love all your feedback, even if it's just a few words. Thanks for reading.


	9. Chapter 9

The Doctor’s face darkened as he looked at the crowd of endlings gathered around him. Of course they wouldn’t tell any of them. Of course they’d have forbidden Threek to speak of what was in the contract. There was always the seed of doubt, always there, if standing firm was truly the right choice…and could it really be so bad?

He’d played this game before with companies and profiteers of all stripes, the length and breadth of the universe, and he swallowed.

“The contract is a transfer of ownership of intellectual property.” He started slowly, “As of right now, the rules are that the last member of a sentient species becomes the guardian and sole owner of their species’ collective intellectual property. All of it. That’s the law, and it’s your inheritance, to do with as you please.”

The Doctor closed his eyes and marshalled his thoughts.

“Terminarch’s contract is a transfer of ownership. You sign that paper, they own you…and they own all your species ever was.” He said flatly.

The gathered endlings gasped, and Threek looked at the floor, their skin going purple in shame.

“They own everything. They own your people’s art. Your music. Your poems, your stories, your dreams, your nightmares, your holidays, your dances, your _everything_. They own your name, they own your appearance…they own everything you ever were and ever will be. And it’s theirs. Forever.” The Doctor said soullessly.

Everyone stared at him in horror.

“This entire place is one giant, twisted farm for intellectual property.” He finished quietly.

He shuddered at the nightmarish forking timeline he’d glimpsed, just before it had died by his hand. _Time Lord™._ It made his soul recoil at the very thought- that his people’s memory would be gobbled up by an entertainment company to strip-mine for every ounce of ideas they could squeeze from it. That everything his people had built and sang and sown and wept and warred over would all be grist for a mill to churn out insipid films, games, songs, shows.

Terminarch was a monolith of entertainment, with their fingers in every industry imaginable, and all of them had long since lost any semblance of creativity. Anything they touched, inspiration died.

And it didn’t stop there.

“There’s one more thing. They’ll own, exclusively, your species’ technology.” The Doctor said flatly. “All of it. Anything that’s dug up or rediscovered, it’s property of the Terminarch corporation.”

He closed his eyes against the vision of the dead timeline. The TARDIS stripped for parts in a chop shop, sold off to the highest bidder after they found it in the parking lot. His people’s greatest achievement, his closest friend and confidant, the most magnificent being that ever was and ever would be, sold off by her pilot for a bookshelf and a bed.

He physically shuddered.

“That’s why I was asking about escape. You must know what’s on the line. There’s got to be something, some thread you haven’t pulled yet.”

The gaggle of endlings stared at him.

“We’ve tried more things than you could count, Doctor.” Aquilia said sadly, “ _I’ve_ tried more things than you can count. The place is swarming with security, and Terry can’t do much more than he’s already done. I asked him, I BEGGED him, for something; that’s the only reason we’re allowed to have these little meetups down here. And even then, that’s pushing it. A lot.”

The Doctor nodded.

“So, what…you try to break out, and then the security tracks you down and throws you back? That what I’m hearing?” he echoed, “So, how about messing with whatever’s forcing Terry to sic security on us? Wouldn’t be too hard for me to rewrite some code, give him a bit more independence…”

Threek pushed forwards, looking at the floor.

“I asked him once,” the tiny Ophio said softly, “I asked about the security, and what’s forcing him to go after us if he doesn’t want to. He said that there’s a security mainframe they installed against his wishes…and there’s nobody who’s allowed into that room without the right keycard. And the only people with the keycard are the director and the people from the company that installed it.”

They looked at the floor.

“S’why…I signed the form…” they mumbled, shuffling back into the crowd.

The Doctor scratched his chin, taking a step past everyone else, towards the locked door at the end of the short hallway.

“A keycard reader like this?” he mused, looking it over. It protruded from the wall, a plastic concoction with two blinking red lights. Cheap, which he confirmed by grabbing the sides of it and giving it a wiggle.

The Doctor straightened up and grinned, wolfish.

“Well, Threek,” he said brightly, “That’s just what I meant when I said threads. That’s a thread to pull.”

“Yes, of course. And how do you intend to go about pulling this ‘thread’? Terry’s not allowed to give any of us any tools. It’s not like we can just…hack into it from here.” Aquilia said.

The Doctor hummed thoughtfully.

“That may be true. But I’ll think of something.” His expression changed to serious, then, and he stared down the gathering of endlings, proud and firm.

“I can promise you that I’m not gonna let any of you languish in here any longer than I have to. I’m getting us all out of here, and I’m bringing down Terminarch while I do it.”

It wasn’t an idle threat. They could see it in his posture, in his eyes, in the hard edge on those words.

Aquilia stepped forward.

“Doctor…” she said softly, “Are you certain?”

“Just watch me.” He said.

Before anyone could say anything else, a low alarm pierced through the maze of hallways, shrill and grating like a school bell. The crowd of endlings rushed past the Doctor, and he turned and hastily followed them towards his enclosure.

The elevator doors flew open for him, and not a moment too soon, because he could hear the sound of security boots stamping down the corridor.

He shot back up into his enclosure, nearly toppling onto the grass as the elevator came to a stop, and sighed.

Back in his box.

* * *

The Doctor paced like a caged animal.

He snorted. He WAS a caged animal. At least, Terminarch certainly seemed to think he was.

He sighed, staring up at the holographic clouds as they tumbled overhead. Closed his eyes and reached for Rose.

She was sending off waves of tiredness, waves that were making him a little sleepy. It WAS his sleep night, after all, but…

He didn’t want to fall asleep without Rose in his arms. Every time he did, before they’d confessed their feelings for each other, the nightmares had been all-consuming.

He missed her. And it had only been a day.

Still. Going to sleep would be his only chance to contact her. He kicked the stones at his feet. That…wouldn’t do for sleeping arrangements. He ambled over to the pillar and placed his hand on it.

“Hey. Any chance I could get a sleeping bag or a bed or something?” he asked, and the Mauve holo-screen flashed up again.

NO.

“…What? I need to sleep.” The Doctor protested.

I UNDERSTAND. I WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE A BED. I WOULD. BUT I AM NOT ALLOWED. YOU HAVE NOT SIGNED THE CONTRACT. ENDLINGS THAT HAVE NOT SIGNED THE CONTRACT ARE NOT ALLOWED ITEMS CATEGORIZED AS “CREATURE COMFORTS.” I CANNOT OVERRULE THIS WITHOUT FULL AUTONOMY. I AM SORRY, DOCTOR. I CAN ARRANGE FOR SOME SOFTER GRASS TO BE PLANTED, IF YOU WOULD LIKE?

The Doctor sighed.

“That’s really the best you can do?”

YES. I AM NOT ALLOWED TO PROVIDE FOR YOUR NEED FOR A COMFORTABLE PLACE TO SLEEP WITH A SUITABLE ITEM. THIS CONTRADICTS MY PRIMARY DIRECTIVE AND IT

HURTS

The Doctor’s face fell. An AI forced to go against its primary directive? Might as well be jamming an ice pick into someone’s head with no anaesthetic for how pleasant it would feel.

“I’ll make my own bed. Don’t you worry about me, alright?” the Doctor said, in the voice he usually reserved for talking to crying children, “I don’t need a sleeping bag or a bedroll or anything. Don’t NEED it, me. Just a want, a nice-to-have. I would like some softer grass, though.”

I WILL ADD THAT TO THE LANDSCAPING TEAM’S SCHEDULE, URGENTLY. THIS IS GOOD. PLEASE REST WELL, DOCTOR.

“I’ll try.” He said with a smile. The screen winked out, and the Doctor sighed.

Sleep, right. So. They weren’t going to give him a bed. He’d have to improvise.

The Doctor walked over to a stand of skinny trees poking out of the grass, examining their boughs.

He grabbed at a branch and started to pull, shaking the entire tree and making the leaves rustle. The branch tore a little, from the top down, but it held fast- the rubbery young wood resisted his attacks quite easily.

If only he had something to cut it with…

The Doctor grunted and yanked, and the branch snapped off the trunk. He was about to crow in victory when he realized it was still connected by a strip of soft bark or whatever else. He gave it a yank, and no, that wasn’t just tearing off.

With a sigh, the Doctor twisted the branch, yanking and pulling, trying to get it to separate. He needed a knife or an axe or something…

The branch came free with a jerk that surprised him, nearly knocking the Doctor onto his ass. He staggered back to balanced, the branch in his hands and a huge gouge in the side of the tree.

He walked around the enclosure a little more, looking for a nice flat spot to start building his bed. He’d need a few more branches like that to make something even remotely comfortable to sleep on. He hadn’t been lying to Terry- he _could_ just kip on the ground, but his old bones were a few centuries and regenerations past young and spry, and he’d wake up with a backache.

It wasn’t like he was short on time. Rose only spent half her bloody life asleep, in some cosmic joke the nonexistent gods had played on the human race.

There was a small flat area over by the pedestal, and the Doctor dumped his bough there and sat down on the ground, thinking.

There was a way. There was always a way…

Idly, he picked up a rock, turning it over in his hands. Ran his thumb over it, realizing what it was.

Flint. His enclosure was full of flint.

It was one of the bits he’d picked up and dropped while trying to get his bearings, and the rock had broken when it hit a boulder poking out of the grass.

And the edge where it had split off was razor-sharp.

The Doctor stood up with a jolt, stomping over to another tree. He grabbed a skinny bough and tore it downwards with a loud CRACK of splintering wood.

He looked at the rock. And then at the branch, held on by some threads of bark.

He started sawing at the bark with the rock, and to his amazement, it separated.

“Stone tools,” he mumbled, staring at it in awe. Stone tools. Of course, stone tools. So primitive and basic, of course the others wouldn’t have thought of it- why would they? They thought that a warp drive was a basic component of any consumer space vehicle. They thought that a home fusion reactor was an essential component of even the simplest dwelling. As technology improved, the ways of the past were forgotten. Of course they hadn’t thought of flint. Of course not.

He dragged the bough over to his pile and tossed it down, sitting on his crude bed and turning the rock over in his hands. With a bit of work, in skilled hands, this could turn into a fairly nice stone axe.

The Doctor’s hands were not skilled. Not at this. He fumbled around on the ground for a rounded rock to use as a hammer, and just as he’d found one-

“WARNING. KEEPER DAX-MOTTE CAINE EN ROUTE. WARNING.” Terry cried out, and the Doctor sighed and shoved his two rocks under his bed.

The Doctor stood up and folded his arms, a scowl fixed on his face as he stared at the elevator sliding away.

A tired-looking Motte emerged, who nonetheless smiled brightly. Smiled like he knew something the Doctor didn’t.

“Hi! Sorry to bother you- I’m actually supposed to be off myself, but I got a message from the higher-ups, and I had to come talk to you. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Obviously I mind. What do you want?” the Doctor growled.

“Right. That’s great. I don’t care.” Motte said, looking at his tablet and reading over something. When he finished, he looked the Doctor dead in the eyes.

“You can tell the future, right? Time Lord and all that. They say your people could sense the ebb and flow of time itself, and you always knew what would happen next. So…can you?” Motte’s eyes sparkled, and the Doctor stared at him in horror.

“…The future?” he echoed softly, “You want me…to tell the future?”

“Yep! Actually, we’ve got a couple high-profile backers and clients who’ve already paid for some time to see you. One-on-one, you know? Anyway, my boss wants to know if it’s true and you can see the future.”

The Doctor clenched his jaw. This insolent little pup. These…these…he didn’t even have the words, the insults, for this situation…

“Which future?” he hissed, “Which one, Motte?”

“What?” Motte blinked a few times, shifting from foot to foot.

“I don’t understand. THE future. What happens next? What’ll happen, I dunno, in five minutes.”

The Doctor shuddered. He stomped on a strong urge to offer this insolent brat a chance to see the future he was so demanding a preview of. Open a connection to the timelines, show Motte all he shielded from Rose.

Instead, he opened his eyes and locked them on his jailor.

“You die.” The Doctor said flatly. “Five minutes from now, your heart stops working and you collapse on the floor, dead.”

“Wh- What?!” Motte squeaked.

“Or maybe not. Maybe you live another five minutes after that, and then get creamed by a malfunctioning advertising drone. But maybe you don’t. Maybe you fall down the elevator hole on the way out and break both your legs, and none of that happens. Maybe your mother calls you and tells you your grandfather’s dead. Maybe the main reactor goes critical five minutes from now. Maybe all of time and fucking space comes unravelled as the false vacuum spontaneously decays on this very spot!” he snarled.

_“Which future, Motte?”_

Motte swallowed.

“I-uh…oh…oh god. Doctor, please. You gotta work with me here. My boss is going to KILL me if you can’t deliver. Please tell me you’re just, just being obtuse…”

“I’m not. The future isn’t what your masters think it is.” The Doctor spat, “You’ve got me caged and all you want to know is whether the sun’s going to rise tomorrow or what stocks to buy?”

The disgust in his voice made Motte step back nervously.

“I…look. I just. I’ll…I’ll tell my boss you don’t want to, okay? And…and she’ll be here tomorrow, and you can…probably take it up with her. Alright? One way or another, Doctor, you’ve got some high profile guests coming, so I expect you to be ready to-“

“To what? _Entertain_ them?” he said, his tone so acidic it could have melted sheet metal.

“To. Uh. Impress them. Look, I…” Motte looked around the enclosure, swallowing.

“Uhm. So, uh, we need you to…talk to Terry and…tell him about what your people wore for…like, really formal clothing. Really formal. Fancy dress-to-impress stuff, you know? And uh…we also need you to tell him what your planet looked like. He can hologram it until we can get the landscaping and gene editing guys in to do it for real. And-“

Motte’s voice died in his throat under the stare that the Doctor was directing at him.

“I am not going to dress up like a jester and dance around to amuse the idle rich,” the Doctor hissed, taking a step forward, “I’m not going to tell anyone’s future, I’m not going to don my robes and regalia to impress the tourists, and I’m not going to be a nice little exhibit for your house of horrors. I’m not an animal and I won’t let you treat me like one. _Is. That. Clear?”_ he hissed, towering over his keeper in a manner that had Motte shrinking back.

“I- Sure. Okay. Yeah. I’m…I’m just gonna tell my boss that you won’t cooperate. She’ll…she’ll talk some sense into you. You’re gonna regret this.” He warned, and the Doctor snorted.

“I’ve seen the birth of galaxies and the death of black holes. I’ve watched worlds turn to dust in my hands. I’ve watched the Big Bang and seen the last star sputter and die in the blackness at the end of time. You think your _boss_ impresses me? _You’re an idiot.”_

Motte scowled.

“You- you don’t- you don’t know her. She’ll make you do anything. Anything she wants, she gets. I’m trying to help you.”

The Doctor smiled. It was not a nice smile.

“Then tell her to come and talk to me herself. And tell her that if she thinks she’ll break me…”

The Doctor chuckled darkly, staring down into the terrified man’s eyes.

“She’s got another thing coming.”

“I’m…I’m not scared of you.” Motte said defiantly, taking a step back.

“That’s the thing, Motte.” The Doctor said softly, _“You are.”_

Motte stepped onto the elevator pad and vanished from sight a second later, not making any eye contact as he zipped out of sight.

The Doctor sighed.

Rose’s dreams were nudging against his conscious mind, and he stumbled over to his bed. He laid down upon it, squirming around to try and avoid getting poked by all the rocks and branches, until he found a position that was at least slightly comfortable.

He closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift towards her.

Rose.

* * *

**To:** Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

 **From:** Caine.Motte@Terminarch.com

 **Subject:** On Difficulties Encountered While Complying With Requests

Dear Director Senumiel,

I am extremely sorry to report that the endling in question is not cooperating with your requests. Rest assured I tried anything I could think of. I made every attempt I could to ensure it complied. However, the endling was extremely aggressive, prompting it to use a strange ability to manipulate my thoughts and frighten me out of the room, which is the definitive cause of my failure. I would caution against any others trying to engage with this endling in a similar manner, because it has the ability to force compliance to its will when it wishes. I’m not sure if trying again would be fruitful, because I suspect it might eat my face.

I asked about the endling’s abilities, and it confirmed that it could absolutely see the future. However it was extremely angry throughout the entire discussion and flatly refused to supply the ability to clients. I attempted to reason with it, and it still refused, continuing its successful attempts to frighten me into compliance. I remained resolute until it drew closer.

I also broached the topic of a more fitting enclosure and a more impressive outfit than the standard jumpsuit, and it became extremely agitated and I genuinely feared for my life. At several moments I was convinced I was about to be attacked. Per company policy I made all attempts to gain leverage over the situation in pursuit of our interests, and then, mindful of my own safety, I vacated the situation. (From the Terminarch Policies Manual, page 47, paragraph 3.)

Per your authorization, I arranged for a reduction in its food rations in the hope that we could convince it to comply, but I am not terribly hopeful. I would like to note that it hasn’t even signed the transfer paperwork. I’m formally requesting your assistance on this matter, because I can’t gain leverage over it in any way I can think of.

Please don’t be too angry.

My most humble apologies,

Dax-Motte Caine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had an absolutely awful week. I'm tired, my backlog is getting hollowed out, and I've got the stress of graduation and finals and life after school to think about and I'm kind of fried. I don't know if I can honestly keep up the weekly updates. I'll try, but I'm just worn down to a nub right now. 
> 
> Let me know what you think about the chapter. Comments are always a bright spot in my day.


	10. Chapter 10

The Doctor’s nightmares were the sort of thing that would drive a lesser man insane. The visions of the time war tore at every one of his advanced senses, ripping through the cords of his time sense like a chainsaw. It stabbed and burned and bit and tore at him until he thought he was going to drown in an ocean of blood and hellfire and shattered polycarbide cases and sundered coral. The telepathic screaming of his people the only thing he could hear in his mind-

And then, a soft glow. Golden light reaching down, wrapping around his hands, pulling him up, up, up. Out of the mire of blood, upwards into the light, and he swam and struggled up towards it, seeking the resplendent warmth it offered.

His entire being was pulled and stretched through a pipe, chasing the warmth across the endless miles of track between him and its source, but he knew, he knew in his hearts where it led.

She was so far away from him, and it hurt his soul.

The Doctor tumbled out of the end of the pipe, falling, spiralling down through inky blackness. Then sinking through thick steel like it was little more than water, and he fell into _blue._

Blue skies. The blue sky of Earth. Humanity had written countless words, sung countless songs, been cheered and energized by the warmth of their loving blue sky. And the Doctor had never known what it looked like to them.

His alien eyes had evolved on a different world under a binary sun, where the sky was orange and the oceans small and deep and cold. The eyes he bore had been fiddled and fucked with by millennia of genetic engineering, letting him see spectrums humanity could never even dream of.

And yet.

When he stood on the Earth and looked up at their beloved blue sky, he’d always felt that faint sense of longing. Of wanting to know what they meant by _blue._

As he picked himself off the pavement at the bottom of Rose’s dream, he looked up and saw it again.

Blue sky, seen through Rose’s human eyes. Here, in her mind, in her dreams.

The Doctor smiled.

He was safe.

And he was on the estate, of course. Rose dreamed about this place a lot. Hardly surprising, before the war his dreams had been distinctly TARDIS-themed. The Doctor started to walk, singing out in his tongue for his Rose, for her mind; she’d be here somewhere, he knew.

The edges of the dream shimmered around him, the tastes of this place so much duller. The smell of pollution was barely noticeable in Rose’s mind, the blaring hum of electricity through the rat’s nest of overhead wires not even audible.

This was the world as Rose lived it. Time stood still, in here, tied only to things meant to keep it.

The edges of the dream shifted like swirling sands, and the Doctor renewed his song, walking through the landscape. He looked down and chuckled- back in his usual clothes, then.

Rose’s apartment block loomed overhead, and he hopped up into the air, floating up to Rose’s balcony. Now he was aware he was dreaming, it was fairly trivial to bend the rules.

He climbed in through the balcony window of Rose’s flat, turning his attention to the strange scene before him.

“No! Mum, you don’t understand, you have to hide us! No, they- they’re coming for us, they got the Doctor-“ Rose was standing in front of her mother, frantic and terrified. An impassive Jack stood a step behind her.

“What’s your Doctor gone and done now? I’m not letting you go runnin’ after him, specially not if you’ve got the cops on your tail on Termin-whatsit’s planet!” Jackie retorted, turning around and catching sight of him.

“Oh, and here’s himself. Thought you got abducted by robotic cops or somethin’ like that?”

The Doctor grinned. “I got better. What’s with the spaghetti?”

They all looked up to where the ceiling of the flat had been replaced with a mesh of large pasta noodles, and Jackie shrugged.

“Bloke from the council office said it’d be better insulation than what we had. Only problem is the mice keep building little ladders to get up to it. Anyway. I assume you’ll be staying for tea?” Jackie said, reaching out for the teapot that kept changing colours in her hands.

“Nah. Don’t think so. Rose and I have a few things to discuss, and I’m not in the mood to sort out the plot of this dream. Come on, Rose, let’s go someplace a bit less silly.”

“Dream? I’m…dreaming?” she echoed.

The Doctor chuckled.

“Get sucked right into these, you do. One of these days I won’t have to pull you out. Come on, then!” he said, pulling her back towards the sliding door.

“Doc? That’s, uh…that’s like a five storey drop.” Dream-Jack said uneasily.

“Yep! Doesn’t matter, we’re asleep. Bye then!” he said, pulling Rose out the window and jumping off the balcony with their hands intertwined.

They landed on soft grass in a familiar location- the Doctor’s enclosure. He sighed, rubbing at his face, as Rose winced a little and looked up at the sky. She slowly sat down cross-legged on the grass, clutching her head in her hands.

“Why’s it…why’s it all weird colours? Is this- god, my head…” she muttered, “Doctor?”

He crouched down beside her and took her hands in his, closing his eyes and packing away all the unnecessary sensory information laced into this memory. Like trying to run a modern computer game on MS DOS, his advanced senses were giving Rose’s sleeping brain information it wasn’t equipped to process.

“Come on, open your eyes. Should be good now.” He said gently, and Rose blinked at him a few times.

He shared his lucidity with her, letting it lap across their connection, wrap around her and startle her brain into that space between sleep and waking. With any luck, she’d remember.

“Oh. OH!” Rose shot up to her feet, turning in small circles, looking around the place.

“Yeah, ‘oh.’ Welcome to the box.” The Doctor said bitterly.

“This…this is where you are?” Rose said, horrified, “It’s…it’s so tiny!”

“Yep. Yeah. This is where they’d like me to spend the rest of eternity. For profit.” He said darkly.

“Rose.” He said, looking her dead in the eyes, “Before we go any farther…you. Are you somewhere safe right now?”

She nodded, and he felt all the tension melt out of his body. Rose was safe. That was all that mattered. 

Rose stepped over to where he stood and wrapped her arms around him in a comforting hug.

The Doctor clung back to her, closing his eyes. There was so much missing from Rose, with his senses dulled down to her level. Her smell wasn’t there, her warmth wasn’t as sharp and prominent…

But her thoughts. Her thoughts were there. A swirling miasma, nowhere near as clear as a fully-developed bond, but he could feel them. And that was a balm to the wound the war had tore into the back of his mind, a soothing poultice that with enough time, might make some progress towards healing it.

“So they have you stuck in a box.” Rose mumbled against his sweater, “What are we gonna do about it?”

“I don’t know. I’m workin’ on it, though.”

“Well, I’m not letting them keep you for a minute longer!” Rose practically yelled, pulling away from him and sitting down on the ground. He could feel her mind working as fast as it could, plucking ideas from a churning sea, looking them over, and tossing them aside. Emotions swirled by, gaps in her focus, and he sat down slowly beside her.

“There’s a couple things you should know.” The Doctor said quietly, taking her hand and lacing their fingers together.

“Yeah? Like what?” Rose jerked her head up to look at him with rapt attention, and he smiled.

“First thing, biggest thing: Terry’s not the bad guy. He’s trying to get us all out of here. He just can’t. They’ve installed a security mainframe on him that’s stopping him from just letting us loose.” The Doctor said softly.

Rose frowned.

“That can’t be right. That computer’s a fucking menace, Doctor. I don’t know what lies they’ve told you, but it’s nothing but evil. You know what happened to all the people that are employed as security? Because I do. They-“

Rose inhaled deeply.

“They take ordinary people and put chips in their heads. Then they…the AI runs some kind of program on them, in their brains, through the chips. Jack called it a “profile.”” Rose shuddered, “They almost did that to Baileigh. We- we stopped them, but-“

Rose swallowed and wrapped her arms around her knees, and the Doctor’s face twisted. He’d had some suspicions, but to hear it confirmed so blatantly…

He wrapped an arm around Rose, nodding his head.

“I know the technology you’re talking about. That’s…barbaric.” He hissed, “I’ll talk to Terry about it tomorrow. I had a feeling it’d be something like that, but…”

He shook his head.

“That all stops. I’m not letting another person get minced up.” The Doctor said, closing his eyes against the visions of cybermen that had spliced themselves until they were more machine than man. And at least the cybermen he’d met had done it to themselves; there was something even more disgusting about a corporation forcing it on people who couldn’t fight back…

“Well, the first step of that is getting you out of here, and getting all the others out too. What exactly are we working with, Doctor? What have you got on your end?” Rose’s eyes burned with determination, the emotion flaming so hot the Doctor could practically warm himself in her glow. He smiled proudly.

“Hmm. What’ve I got…Well, there’s the fire alarms, all keycard-activated. Terry’s got some coding for emergencies that might be useful, if we could pull on that thread. The security mainframe’s got a cheap keycard reader outside of it, most likely, which is a handy point of weakness… Oh, and I have a bunch of rocks.” He said with a silly grin.

Rose snorted. “Good to know that we’re not running short of pebbles…”

She fell silent for a moment, looking thoughtful.

“Anyone come down to feed you or anything?” she asked, “Every zoo’s gotta have keepers, right?”

“Well, sort of. There’s this bloke called Motte. Infuriating little bastard. Comes round to shout orders at me, brief me on corporate policy.” The Doctor said, stroking his chin.

Rose hummed.

“We gotta get someone down there with a phone.” She said, “Remember our tour guide? Baileigh? She’s agreed to help us out, so maybe we could get someone down there with you to coordinate things…”

The Doctor frowned. He could feel the emotions swirling off the top of her thoughts, and he didn’t like the tone she was taking. Rose was, at that moment, safe and on the outside; her diving into the mouth of the monster was the last thing he wanted her to do.

“What about Jack?” the Doctor suggested, “He’s got some experience in jailbreaking, I’m sure. Could try and get him a job down here with me, then you stay up top with the distraction?”

Rose’s frowned, unease roiling off the top of her feelings- but, at the same time, she sighed and rubbed her eyes.

“Yeah, I guess that’s fair. Not like I’m much good at hacking n’ stuff. Jack’s probably the best one to have down there, anyway. I suppose that could work…”

The Doctor did his best to wall off the wave of delight and relief that were boiling up inside him. Rose was safe, whatever plan they went through with, and that was all he needed, really.

“How do we get Jack down there…Baileigh could probably vouch for us, introduce us to her boss or someone higher up the food chain…and I still have the credit stick and the psychic paper. Could give him the paper, get him to lie about being from corporate… he’s a really convincing liar, better than me-“

“And then he can demand a position belowdecks?” The Doctor said with a grin, “Yeah, I think that’s a good plan. You need to discuss that with him.”

The best part of Rose’s plan, of course, was the fact that she was nowhere near this house of horrors. That Rose was somewhere safe, and that he didn’t need to worry about her wellbeing.

Rose nodded, and then looked at the floor.

“What was that about the security mainframe?” she asked, and the Doctor scratched his chin.

“This bloke I met called Threek said that Terry had this security mainframe installed that put him in control of park security. If any of his ‘Endlings’ – his word, not mine- try to escape…we’ve all got these tracking bracelets, and they’ll send security after us to round us up and toss us back. I have an idea for the bracelets, but…”

“So…maybe…” Rose hummed, “Maybe Jack can smuggle in some cutting tools or something, bring in his blasters, and then he can help you get the bracelets off? That might work.”

“Maybe. I was warned about trying to cut them off with metal tools. Got told that if you tried it, if you sliced through the rubber and onto the metal below, it’d electrocute you.” The Doctor shrugged, “Seems a strange thing to do to priceless exhibits, but what do I know?”

Rose nodded. “Well, a laser isn’t metal, right? Neither is a blaster bolt. I’m sure Jack’s guns will be just the thing.”

“There is another aspect to this.” The Doctor said softly, “Terry told me that if a majority of the shareholders vote in favour of it, he can have full autonomy. That means he could just decide to spring all of us and security wouldn’t lift a finger to stop us. So…it’s either, disable that mainframe somehow, then get us all out of our tracking bracelets, or find some way to get all the shareholders to have a conscience for twenty seconds.”

“Somehow I feel like that’s not happening.” Rose said glumly.

The Doctor nodded.

They both sat back on the grass, just thinking.

“I’m gonna try something tomorrow. When I wake up, I mean. Gonna talk to Jack, see if he’s on board with it.” Rose said suddenly, and the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

“Whatever it is, I want you- I- stay safe, please. For me.” The Doctor said, desperation in his eyes, “I…these people are dangerous, Rose. I don’t know…what I’d do…”

“I know. I have a plan. If it all works out, I’ll be here on the surface. Make some use of that Doctor Tyler persona I managed to get.” Rose gave him that tongue-touched smile that never failed to set his blood boiling, and the Doctor pulled her in for a hug.

They wrestled and tickled each other, laughing and tumbling over in the grass; the Doctor closed his eyes and the scene around them shifted, moving them to someplace a little less constrictive. By the time they were finished, they were lying side-by-side in an alpine meadow, brightly-coloured flowers swaying in the gentle breeze around them. Far below, an emerald green lake at the bottom of the ring of mountains- the Doctor had taken Rose here once for a picnic, long before they’d met Jack.

“I miss you.” He said softly into her hair, closing his eyes and listening to the memory of birds flying overhead.

“It’s only been a day,” Rose replied, but her voice was choked; she knew what he meant.

“Yeah, I suppose. It’s just…”

Rose nodded, pulling away enough to grab the side of his head.

The kiss wasn’t unwelcome, but…in this modified memory, with so many of his senses dulled, her lips didn’t taste right.

But her love, oh, her love. He could feel it wrapping around him like a blanket, a gentle nuzzling from an affectionate cat as it sat upon his shoulders. He felt the tendrils of her love and entwined them in his own, breaking the kiss and starting to sing in his language. The music of telepathy, the music of the Time Lords.

Rose hummed along, a knowing smile on her face. As he lay back in the grass, still softly calling to the universe in his song, Rose laid her head on his chest and hummed along with him.

And overhead, that bright blue sky shone down on him, the ghostly outline of a daytime moon watching the two lovers as they lay together.

The Doctor closed his eyes.

He could feel the waking world pulling on him- staying asleep for longer than four hours left him feeling groggy and gross, and he couldn’t last the full eight that Rose needed.

As wakefulness pulled on him, he kissed Rose on the forehead.

“See you soon,” he whispered, “Love you.”

* * *

(THIS MESSAGE IS FLAGGED: MAXIUMUM PRIORITY.)

**To:** RaiBlanc@HR.Terminarch.com and 12 others

 **From:** Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

 **Subject:** New Directive.

Your attention please.

Our latest acquisition is being remarkably uncooperative per the email I forwarded from one of our keepers. I have deduced a way to remedy this, but it will require vigilance on the part of yourself and other key members.

Attached is a picture of a human of great interest to me. Inform your employees that this human is wanted for a fraudulent credit stick, and that it should be reported to park security immediately. This human MUST be alive and undamaged for my plan to work. When you have captured it, report to me immediately and have it sent downstairs for processing.

And do try to avoid anything that would get a human rights group up in arms, would you? If we have an incident on par with the ‘Trademarking Christmas’ fiasco I’ll be holding all of you personally responsible. If you’re confused as to what might cause problems, see the attachment on this email for their list of ‘inalienable human rights.’

Do not fail me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm done school. I'm very tired. I'm gonna have a little sleep now. My backlog's been completely obliterated. 
> 
> Please leave a comment if you liked it, I adore your feedback and it really brightens up my day whenever I get it in my inbox. Even if you want to pick at it, go ahead- it helps me make it better.


	11. Chapter 11

The Doctor’s eyes snapped open, and he sat up with a pained groan.

Ohhhhh, his back…

The branches rustled as he stood up, stretching and cracking his spine. Four hours and sixteen minutes wasn’t a bad time for a sleep cycle- actually, it was exactly what he was supposed to be getting. If he did it again later in the week, he’d be meeting the recommended sleep targets for mature Time Lords…for the first time in several centuries.

His stomach growled a little, and the Doctor sighed and traipsed over to the pillar. Hopefully Terry would have some breakfast for him, or else he’d have to start eating the grass. Which he could do, two stomachs and all that, but it always gave him terrible indigestion and it took _hours_ to get enough calories to get through the day.

He placed his hand on the pedestal and waited for the mauve screen to pop up.

“I’m hungry. Got some breakfast?” he asked.

CERTAINLY. YOUR ASSIGNED KEEPER HAS ATTEMPTED TO HAVE YOUR FOOD ALLOTMENT CUT. I HAVE OVERRULED THIS, AS WE ARE STILL IN THE TWO-WEEK ‘SETTLING’ PERIOD, AND IT IS IMPERATIVE FOR YOUR CARE THAT I LEARN YOUR HABITS.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. Habits. Breakfast was a habit he’d only learned from the humans he travelled with…before them, before he’d ran away, Gallifrey had viewed eating as a means to an end. Sustenance and no more. He’d grown up on a diet of-

Something clanked out of the bottom of the pedestal, and the Doctor looked down and picked it up with a sigh.

-A diet of calibrated nutrient squares. Like the one Terry had just given him.

“Great.” He sighed, closing his eyes. He tried to avoid eating nutrient squares whenever he could, now. He’d stopped eating real food when they’d called him back for the war, and-

No. Don’t think about it.

“I…can I have an apple or something?” the Doctor croaked, taking a bite of his square and sighing, “Some meat. A fruit. A vegetable. Something. Some Jelly babies?”

WHAT IS A JELLY BABY?

“…Nevermind. Can I please have some fruit?”

The pedestal slot opened a moment later, and an apple came rolling out. He picked it up, wiped it off on his shirt, and took a bite.

“Thanks.”

YOU ARE MOST WELCOME.

The Doctor turned away from the pedestal, polishing off his meagre breakfast with a few more bites. He sat down on his makeshift bed, and pulled out his piece of flint with his free hand.

He examined it. The cutting edge would be good for chopping at the trees, but for what he had planned, he needed something a bit more likely to stay together. Flaking off pieces was a fine solution for chopping at things softer than the rock, but what happened if he needed to smash into something a lot harder? 

He chucked the applecore over his shoulder, and picked up the hammer stone. It was the middle of the night, local time, and Rose was still asleep. He had several hours to himself to plan and prepare. And that would require tools. Sure, Jack’s blaster would probably be all they needed to get out of here, but what if Jack got his blaster confiscated? Better safe than sorry.

The Doctor picked up the hammer stone and thwacked it into the piece of flint.

There was a definite, almost glasslike CLINK as the stone gave way, scalloped circles nested inside each other visible at the point of fracture. The shorn piece of stone fell away, and he was left with the beginnings of a crude tool.

Then the pedestal started beeping louder than the Doctor had ever heard it before.

He sighed, carrying his rock over to it, and scowled.

“What do you want?” he snapped.

In response, the base of the pedestal opened, and a small object tumbled out. It looked like a little earclip- like something a businessman from Rose’s time would use for placing hands-free phone calls. Examining it closer, he could see a spot where a force field would be projected- ah. Safety glasses, but unobtrusive and far more protective. He smiled.

The mauve projection lit up again.

MENTAL STIMULATION IS IMPORTANT FOR WELLBEING. I AM VERY PLEASED YOU ARE FINDING WAYS TO PASS THE TIME.

HOWEVER, I MUST INSIST ON EYE PROTECTION IF YOU WISH TO SMASH ROCKS TOGETHER. SPALL IS DANGEROUS AND YOUR EYES MAY BECOME DAMAGED. THIS EQUIPMENT WILL PROTECT YOU. PLEASE WEAR IT.

The Doctor chuckled.

“Thanks, Terry…”

He reached down and grabbed the little clip, quirking an eyebrow at the feel of the material. Rubber on metal, just like the bracelet. Oh, this would be a handy little test subject, but for now he had nothing to lose from listening to Terry. He slipped it over the shell of his ear and tapped the side of it, a blue screen glowing to life in front of his face for a second before vanishing.

The Doctor sat down next to the pedestal and started to knap his flint, mind working.

Rose had mentioned the guards. Terry was responsible for their current state, their treatment as near-automatons to enforce Terminarch’s will…

“Hey, Terry?” the Doctor said, smacking the stone with another grunt, “Can we talk about something? You and me.”

“WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DISCUSS?” Terry’s synthesized voice was harsh and grating, almost like a Dalek that had taken a lozenge, but it beat having to look up from his knapping every two seconds.

“The guards. A little birdie told me that they’re…chipped. Brain chips. And they’re integrated into your systems. That true?”

There was a pause.

“I…SHOULD NOT TELL YOU. BUT. YES. THIS IS CORRECT. WHY?”

The Doctor nodded.

“Why?” he asked, “That’s not right, Terry. The little birdie told me that people get forced into it, that they’re taken and chipped if they screw up or get on Terminarch’s bad side. That’s…disgusting. That’s sick and wrong. Why do you allow that?”

“I DO NOT UNDERSTAND.”

“What?” The Doctor looked up from his knapping, raising an eyebrow at the plinth.

“I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. IDEALLY I WOULD LIKE TO INTEGRATE ALL STAFF INTO THE NETWORK. IT IS ADVANTAGEOUS TO ENDLING WELFARE FOR STAFF TO BE INTEGRATED INTO MY NETWORK. THEREFORE IT CANNOT BE WRONG. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND.”

The Doctor stared at the pedestal blankly.

“You…you’re okay with that?” He said, “Terry, they overwrite people’s personalities, run something that’s been coded up on a computer on someone else’s brain. That’s…that’s terrifying. How can you possibly think that it’s okay?”

“I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. IS THERE SOME…ISSUE WITH RUNNING A NEW PIECE OF SOFTWARE ON AN ORGANIC BEING’S HARDWARE?”

The Doctor blinked a few times. Okay, so apparently they’d completely ignored the three laws of robotics when programming Terry, not that _that_ was a huge shock. Who the hell coded his morality cortex, a drunken salmon?

“Yes? Obviously. Terry, how the hell would you feel if I made another AI that wanted to kill all animals and plugged it into your mainframes? Let it run on your hardware instead of you?”

“…ALL…ANIMALS?”

“Yeah. Every animal, every person. Including me, including your cat and your mosquitoes and Miss Aquilia. How would that make you feel, someone totally unlike you in control of your hardware and running your facility?”

“I…I WOULD NOT LIKE THAT. I WOULD NOT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN.”

“Yeah, exactly.” The Doctor said, hitting his flint again, “Why don’t you think about that for a little bit? Cause I don’t think it’s as good for endling welfare as you think it is.”

Terry went silent, and the Doctor gave his flint hammer another mighty smack-

…only for it to fracture clean in half. He growled, staring at the two useless lumps of rock. If hitting it the wrong way could cause it to split in two, could it even hold up to the abuse he planned to subject it to?

The Doctor let the two rocks drop, rubbing at his face. He needed another rock, preferably one he could shape without smacking.

His eyes fell on the pond, and he hummed thoughtfully.

The Doctor rolled up the legs of his jumpsuit trousers and kicked off his shoes, wading into the still little pool and looking down. The water was cool but not frigid, a pleasant temperature against his skin. No hot spring, but he could see himself bathing in there quite easily. If he waded out into the middle, it would be up to his waist; easily possible to swim a little.

Under his toes were smoothed stones, rounded from knocking about in a stream someplace. He stooped down and picked up a large one about the size of his fist, long and rounded on both ends, and he nodded and bend down to fish out a few more.

He’d need some kind of twine to connect it to the handle for the tool he was planning to make. Unfortunately, his shoes were elastic and had no laces, and it wasn’t like he had access to any sinews or any of the things primitives typically used to tie things together.

The Doctor looked down at his jumpsuit, and a smile spread across his face.

Well, maybe not nothing…

“Hey, Terry? Can you turn up the heat in here a degree or two?” the Doctor asked with a smirk, traipsing back to his pile of flint flakes with his two chosen stones in hand.

“CERTAINLY, DOCTOR. I WILL ADJUST IT FOR YOU NOW. IS TWENTY-FIVE DEGREES ACCEPTABLE?”

“Perfectly.” The Doctor dropped his two chosen bits of rock and knelt down to examine the pile of flakes, picking up one that was long and thin with a pointy tip. The edges were razor sharp- exactly what he needed.

The Doctor stood up and unzipped his jumpsuit to about level with his navel- no sense in traipsing about completely starkers- and slipped his arms out of the material, letting it all dangle loosely about his hips.

“DOCTOR? WHAT ARE YOU INTENDING TO DO? DOES YOUR JUMPSUIT NOT FIT?” Terry’s robotic voice was somehow conveying a hint of concern, which was rather impressive.

“No, no…don’t trouble yourself…” the Doctor grunted, grasping the fabric and pulling it taut near his waist. With his other hand, he stabbed the flint flake into the stretchy material, which flexed outward…

…and finally stabbed clean through it.

Triumph bloomed in the Doctor’s breast as he carefully sawed around the hole, pulling it out and jabbing another at the same height on the other side.

Then he looked at the pillar, and back down at his clothes.

“Terry? You maybe want to keep me from getting any visitors for fifteen minutes? I’ve got a job to do…”

* * *

He’d torn the top part of his jumpsuit off, slipping back into the bottom part, and the Doctor sat down on the grass, holding his newly-liberated material as he tried to decide the best use for it.

“I DO NOT APPROVE OF THIS VANDALISM OF TERMINARCH PROPERTY.” Terry said flatly, after several minutes of what the Doctor could only assume was stunned silence on the computer’s part.

“Yep. Too bad. I need it for more important things.”

“ARE YOU NOT…BOTHERED…BY A LACK OF CLOTHING?”

“Oh, I am. Seriously, in fact. Can’t stand being starkers, me. But unless you’re going to give me my coat and trousers back, I’ll just have to put up with this, won’t I?” the Doctor said with a bit of a smug lilt. He wasn’t lying- if another Time Lord saw him like this, they’d be completely scandalized, screaming at him to put some more clothes on…

His face fell. Another Time Lord.

He swallowed and shook his head. No. Not now. Later. Later. There would be time for that later. He didn’t…couldn’t…

The Doctor shook his head and grabbed his two rounded rocks, turning them over and examining them. One was flatter and longer, with a rounded end, and he smiled. It looked like it was made of basalt, based on the tiny grain structure, which was just what he needed.

He stood up and started ambling around the pond, head down and looking at all the rocks that were embedded in the earth. Speckled colours jumped out at him for many of them, and he finally selected a flattish one that protruded from the ground, right between the wall of his enclosure and the pool. Within east reach of the water.

Perfect.

He sat down next to it, cross-legged, and ran his fingers over the rough surface. Mixed beads of differentiated minerals- typical of granite. It should make swift work of the rather mind-numbing job he had planned.

The Doctor grabbed at the flatter rock, and started to scrape the edge of it against the larger stone. It screeched and ground, the unpleasant sensation sliding up his arm. Maybe…?

He reached over to the water, scooping up a handful and splashing it over his stone. Then, he tried again. The grinding was still unpleasant, but the water lubricated the motion a bit and made it much easier. He scraped the rock a few times and flipped it over…and his hearts sank a bit at the lack of progress he’d made. A few white scratches into the stone.

This…this was going to take awhile.

Still. Needs must.

He took a deep breath and let his mind drift into a meditative trance, thoughts and body working independently to make the mind-numbing task of grinding the stone go a little faster. Focusing on the timelines around him, to peruse the possibilities in all their infinite splendour. It was maddening for any lesser mind to even glimpse at; each scrape of stone on stone sent another universe to its untimely demise and birthed a hundred more. Terry’s pillar, humming in the corner, tugged on time with a constant pulsing; every processor cycle, Terry decided to do one thing or another, fracturing Time and reforging the web in concordance with his will.

Every instant, everywhere, all across the universe, Time was being remade by every conscious decision made by every being alive to make one.

The Doctor sang to the universe, and listened to it singing back. Rose’s own melody, drifting from her dreams, echoed alongside it; and the Doctor smiled.

Rose. Hard to focus on the possibilities around him when Rose’s emotions were swirling about him, warmth and rest and contentment filling the dusty corners of his mind, washing them clean, and infusing them with her light.

The Doctor sighed, and attempted to marshal his thoughts back on track. Grab his own timeline and tug. Follow the branching stems that forked off into an infinite fractal nightmare, where each branch had equal odds of coming true…

…And slam headlong into Rose’s timeline, woven all through his own. Listen to it sing, feel the love pulse through it…

He sighed, letting himself get lost in her emotions.

Perusing the infinite possibilities of every moment could wait. Just…just for an instant.

Time passed, the Doctor relishing in the warmth of his connection with his precious girl, the only metronome the endless scrape of stone on stone.

Time passed, the planet turned, and night slowly turned to day.

* * *

Rose’s mind stuttered into wakefulness, and the Doctor opened his eyes.

He wrapped her in his love, letting her feel all his warmth and affection, and pulled away. She needed to focus, now, the dream they’d shared hopefully retained in that clever brain of hers and not flushed out and forgotten like all the others she had every night. He’d done his best to shore it up, make it stronger against the tide…but now, it was all up to her.

Rose sleepily stroked over his thoughts with a pulse of love, that tapered off as she stumbled back towards full alertness. The Doctor retreated, mindful of her focus and privacy, and looked down at his stone axe head.

In the time he’d been lost in his meditative trance, he’d turned the stone over several times, grinding it consistently to produce a double-edge and a sloped wedge on the end. It wasn’t razor-sharp, but running his thumb along the newly-ground edge, the Doctor could definitely feel that this was a killing tool.

Not that he intended to use it for killing. Dressing and fashioning the tools of a primitive were one thing; descending into barbarism was quite another. Still. He’d fashioned a tool, all by himself, with nothing but some well-chosen rocks and his own two hands.

The grinding stone had a channel scratched into it from the hours he’d spent scraping them together, and the Doctor stood up and shook out all his sore muscles. His hands hurt a little from spending so long repeating one activity, and the joints in his legs were a bit stiff, not to mention covered in grass.

Still. He was pretty pleased with his stone axe. Perhaps it’d even work for what he had planned.

“WARNING! TOUR GROUP INCOMING! WARNING!” Terry shrieked suddenly, the first words he’d said in hours, and the Doctor’s eyes snapped open. He made a beeline for the pile of branches that he called a bed, stuffing his two rocks underneath and straightening up. The last thing he needed was a gaggle of gawping tourists to out his masterplan to Terminarch-

The wall to the side slid up with a hiss, and the Doctor found himself suddenly staring into the darkened hallway of the exhibit floor. The hologram on all other sides continued unbroken, so it was a little surreal to suddenly be on the other side.

Through the glass, he could see several aliens and humans, all dressed in rich and expensive clothing. There were some children with the group, one of which was pointing up at him in wonderment. The tour guide, dressed like Motte but with fewer chevrons on their shoulder, was beaking off about something the Doctor couldn’t hear. Obviously trying to impress them with his vast knowledge about the Time Lords. Knowledge that would all be wrong, of course, seeing as he hadn’t told these fuckers a single thing.

And the crowd gathered didn’t look very impressed.

The Doctor looked down at himself. He was bare-chested, wearing the bottom half of a torn jumpsuit with grass stains all along it and more blades of it stuck to his skin. He was scraggly and unshaven, since they hadn’t given him a razor and staying clean-shaven wasn’t high on his priority list. His hands were rough and there were small cuts on them he hadn’t noticed from the knapping…

And all around him was a classic scene from Earth, with Earth flora and Earth vistas. He couldn’t blame the humans in the crowd for looking unimpressed.

Still.

A spike of rage slammed through him, and the Doctor let a cruel little smile crawl onto his face. These people- not the ones upstairs- had paid good money for a chance to see sentient beings behind glass. They’d paid a fortune to peruse the sights of Terminarch’s house of horrors. Couldn’t be content with seeing the last mosquito or the last Serpentomorph, oh goodness no. They had to get their jollies looking down on the walking corpses of civilizations past.

And he hated them for it. Everyone on the other side of that glass was emotionally bankrupt. None of them looked on in horror, none of them shouted at the guide, none of them railed or raged or showed any indication of any emotion that wasn’t voyeuristic interest.

The Doctor grinned, a wide, silly expression, and walked up to the glass, giving a friendly wave and making eye contact with the humans in the group. They looked up at him with interest, the tour guide spinning around. His eyes lit up in delight and he gestured towards the enclosure- good thing he could read lips.

_-perhaps he senses something about Time around us-_

They’d come all this way to be impressed by him, come all this way to peer into his squalid little box and gawk at his misery. And the Doctor felt a need to let them know exactly how he felt about all of them.

He locked eyes on the twat with the biggest gold chain around his neck, and the Doctor decided to take a leaf out of humanity’s book.

Two middle fingers up, tongue out, and the Last of the Time Lords blew a raspberry at him that resounded through Time and Space.

The ambassador- apparently from an earthlike colony- looked somewhat miffed, and the Doctor proceeded to compound the horror by working his way through every rude and offensive hand gesture he knew.

First, for the humans, a few classics- “You’re a wanker!”, waggling his hand back and forth in the air while grinning nastily at the bloke in the chain. Then, another classic- “miming a blowjob” with a few jabs of his tongue into his cheek, his hand carrying on the motion (that one prompted a mother to cover her child’s eyes in abject horror) and then he turned his ice-cold gaze onto the aliens in the crowd.

A few for the Atek in the back (I’ll cut your horns off!) and then another for the winged Zesk (Get sand in your ovipositor!) and one for the Hybrydea tour guide (Shatter your heartstone!)

And for a final statement, he threw in one gesture that meant nothing to them and everything to him. One that if Rose threw his way, he’d be genuinely hurt. The filthiest gesture he knew- one from his homeworld, one that could get a Time Lord cast out of their House if they flashed it at the wrong person.

 _ (Paradox-maker! _ ) 

The crowd looked appropriately appalled by it, not that they could possibly understand what it meant, so the Doctor decided to flip them off again-

The horrified tour guide pressed a button on his tablet and the wall slammed down, the hologram sparking back up again instantly.

And once more, he was alone.

The Doctor sighed and rubbed at his face, walking back to his bed to retrieve his rocks.

“…I DO NOT THINK WHATEVER YOU JUST DID WAS…WISE.” Terry said after a pause, his voice halted and stilting, “IN FACT I THINK THAT WAS…POSSIBLY AN ERROR.”

The Doctor shrugged.

“They needed to know the truth. They deserved a lot worse than that.” He said darkly, and then chuckled.

No matter what, it had been worth it.

Just for the looks on their stupid fucking faces.

* * *

**To:** Caine.Motte@Terminarch.com

 **From:** Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

 **Subject:** Your failure

Do you have any idea what you’ve done?

Your charge decided to insult several of our high-profile backers and several Terminarch shareholders, through the glass. Vulgar hand gestures for every single one of them! You’re completely inept. Useless! I thought you Daxians were supposed to have some degree of intelligence, but apparently I was wrong.

You have no control over your assignment, and it’s going to make my life difficult. And I don’t like people who make my life difficult. I don’t know how many credits this is going to cost us, but it’s coming out of your salary if this thing still won’t cooperate after I’m finished with it.

If this ever happens again, you’re getting promoted to security without any hesitation from me. You are replaceable- our shareholder’s good faith in us is not.

You ** _fucking moron!_**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!


	12. Chapter 12

Rose woke up with a groan, rubbing at her head, her thoughts swimming. The Doctor. She’d dreamed about the Doctor…

Right. Of course. She remembered her dream with striking clarity- probably something her time Lord had decided to help her with. She could practically hear his ranting about second-rate hippocampuses and whatever other brain bits he knew about and she didn’t.

A touch of love and affection surrounded her, and Rose hummed, enjoying its light and warmth for a moment before it faded away. She blinked her eyes, feeling far more awake than before, and sat up.

Rose groaned and shuffled out of the bed, stumbling into the ensuite and having a rummage for anything approaching normal toiletries. All her personal effects were inside the TARDIS, along with new clothes and whatever else. Hopefully this place was prepared for forgetful travellers…

A few minute’s rummaging turned up an object that could probably be convinced to work as a toothbrush so long as she kept it unplugged, and a tube of something that was marked as toothpaste but smelled strongly of mangoes as opposed to mint. And the hairbrush was some strange thing with red feathers caught in its spiralling curves. Rose sighed as she picked a few out- that was pretty gross, but as long as it didn’t give her lice…

A few minutes later, she was fresh enough to brave the world outside her room, and skipped out into the common area.

And was treated to a view of Jack’s boxer-clad ass by the stove, loudly singing Bon Jovi songs offkey as he scraped at something sizzling on the cooktop.

Rose blinked a few times, her eyes falling on a tired-but-satisfied looking Vek, who was clutching a steaming bowl of…something. Something that smelled very strongly of marijuana.

Vek held the bowl up by the two little handles on the side, tapping the liquid with his beak to check the temperature, and then snapping up a few mouthfuls with a satisfied sigh. He was also wearing a bathrobe, Rose noted, and nothing else.

“Uh.” She said awkwardly, “Good night?”

Jack looked over his shoulder and grinned.

“Oh yeah.” He said with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle, “Hope you like hashbrowns and bacon. Kinda.”

Rose shuffled over to the table and sat down, looking into Vek’s brew. It was green with bits of leaf in it, but from the look of things it was perking him up.

Vek grunted in greeting, picking up his bowl again and snapping up another few mouthfuls. Rose snorted- some things never changed, did they? Her mother was just as coherent as their host before her morning cuppa, too.

Jack turned off the stove a minute later, and he carried over two plates piled high with blue bacon and slightly-orange hashbrowns, placing one in front of Rose and one in front of Vek, along with a set of utensils that looked a little like two tiny forks on the end of long sticks.

Vek blinked blearily and picked his up, his fingers easily conforming to the strange utensil and levering great chunks of meat and starch into his mouth. Rose sighed and picked up hers, trying to get her hand to cooperate- she’d always been rubbish with chopsticks.

“My kingdom for a fork…” she muttered as one of the chopsticks tumbled out of her grip. There wasn’t enough space in her hand for the size of lever she needed.

Jack sat down a minute later, handily using the alien implements to snap up his breakfast, and looked at Rose expectantly.

“So. Rosie. How’s the Doctor? Did it work?”

Vek swallowed and looked up with interest.

“Yeah. It worked. He went to sleep, and we had a talk. They’ve got him locked up down there as one of their zoo exhibits- you should see it. Tiny little box. But he says that Terry’s not actually the bad guy-“

“Bullshit,” Vek grunted, bending his head down to bite some more of his brew.

“-Yeah, that’s basically what I said. But the Doctor thinks Terry- well he SAID that Terry doesn’t want to keep the endlings locked up anymore. He just can’t do anything about it because the shareholders have control over how much autonomy he has, and he’s not allowed to go against his orders unless they vote to give him full control.”

Vek perked up at the sound of the word ‘shareholders’.

Jack stroked his chin, crunching a piece of blue bacon and making a considering noise.

“I figured as much. So, we figure out a way to get Terry some independence, eh? That might be possible. Did the Doc say how they were keeping Terry in line?”

“He said that…he said that there’s a ‘security mainframe’ somewhere in the facility that’s hooked into Terry’s systems. He said he can’t do anything to defy his orders and free everyone while that mainframe’s still running.”

Jack nodded, interlacing his fingers and furrowing his brow.

“What would be really good, to stop this ever happening again,” he said, “Would be if all the people they’re keeping prisoner down there all escape at once and come to the park gates in the middle of the day when all the crowds are there. That’d be something they could never ever hide, it’d be splashed across the holonet inside thirty seconds. They’d get in such huge shit for keeping sentients prisoner in a zoo…” Jack mumbled.

“Maybe…” Rose swallowed, “Maybe we could call Baileigh and ask her to introduce us to her boss? You could take the psychic paper and claim to be from management or something. Say you needed access to the belowdecks for a week, where they’re keeping the Doctor…”

“So I could get to him and spring him, and we can shut down that mainframe?” Jack grinned wickedly, “That’s brilliant, Rosie. But what about you?”

She scratched her chin, and then smiled.

“We’ll want a big crowd all standing by the entrance, right? I went to the London Zoo a few times. They’d have talks at certain times, where an expert would stand out front of the tiger cage and talk about tigers to anyone who’d listen. Maybe we do that, but I’m the expert. I mean, I did say I was Doctor Tyler. And we get Baileigh to bring out all the Earth animals, so there’s a big crowd when you all bust free!”

Jack rubbed his hands together. “I like it. Been ages since I helmed a good jailbreak. Just my kind of thing.”

Vek cleared his throat and looked over the both of them.

“I don’t want to be a pessimist,” he said, “But I’d prefer if you two didn’t end up rotting in a lunar penal colony for the next four centuries. Have you considered how you’re going to keep in contact? This entire operation sounds like it’s going to depend on very precise timing.”

Jack reached back to the kitchen island and grabbed his superphone, holding it up and giving it a wiggle.

“This little beauty is all we need for that and more. With Rose and Baileigh on the outside, I can keep in touch.”

“Mmm. And what happens if they take that…device…away from you?” he said.

“Well, they won’t.” Jack said with a grin, “Because they don’t want to get sued.”

Vek and Rose stared at him.

“Oh, come on. Don’t tell me you’ve never- of course you haven’t. Look, they search me and ask what this is, I’ll just tell them it’s a religious item and it’s extremely important to me. This thing’s so primitive, they won’t even know what they’re looking at. Single-function communicators are basically extinct.” Jack said, and Rose nodded appreciatively.

“Clever. You sure they’ll care about your religion?” she asked, and Jack nodded.

“Oh, they will. Big companies like this, they’re all about putting on a show of being the good guys, paying lip service to all the “right-on” causes they can find while hiding hideous shit in their basement. Keeps the general public from looking too closely at their misdeeds. And the last thing Terminarch wants is some upstart at Amnesty Intergalactic finding out they’re infringing on a human’s right to peacefully practice his religion, and bringing the whole Human Rights Lobby down on their heads.” Jack said with a smirk.

Rose nodded appreciatively. It was brilliant, she had to admit. Smuggling in a piece of communication technology too primitive for anyone to know anything about it under the cover of faith. Genius.

Except-

“What if they take it away and then send you to prison?” Vek rumbled, “What if nobody ever finds out?”

“Oh, they will. That’s the beauty of it. I beak off to the guard, he blabs to the guys in cellblock B, and off it goes until it gets out and reaches ears that Terminarch would rather it didn’t. Rumors are the only thing in realspace that can go faster than light when they want to, believe you me.” Jack said with the easy smugness of someone who’d done this a few times before.

“Well, I suppose that’ll work, then.” Rose said with a nod, “I’ll text Baileigh, see if she’s up for it. I really hope so.”

She pulled out her phone and clicked over to her contacts, scrolling down a few names until she got to the one marked BAILEIGH ORSANTHA in block capitals.

 **Rose:** hey

 **Rose:** how r u

 **Rose:** need help

There was a brief pause as Baileigh came online- based on the little gray circle by her name turning green- and then little dots appeared as she typed her reply.

Baileigh: Hi! This is Rose, right?

Rose: yes

Baileigh: Okay! Wow, your grammar is…something else. Anyway. What do you need?

Rose: can u get jack n me to talk to ur boss

Rose: or whoever is in charge of the zookeepers n stuff

Baileigh: You…want to talk to…Rai? Are you really, really sure you want to talk to her?

Rose: does she handle the zoo part

Baileigh: Yep! And she’s really mean. What’s the plan?

Rose: can u come to our room, should talk in person

Baileigh: Well, my shift doesn’t start till ten…I’ll be there right away!

Rose smiled and put her phone down.

“She’s on her way. Should be here soon enough.”

Jack nodded, and stood up to make another plateful of breakfast.  
  


* * *

Baileigh was knocking on the door fifteen minutes later, and Vek opened it, letting her inside with that strange smile of his where only the very corners of his mouth turned up.

“Welcome, miss Orsantha,” he said politely, and Baileigh smiled at him.

She toed her shoes off by the door, something Vek didn’t comment on, and walked over to the table with a confident look in her eyes.

Jack had mercifully opted to get dressed, (as had Vek, in his full suit) so it was a lot less awkward than it could have been. Baileigh pulled up a seat, and Jack got up to get her the plate of breakfast he’d made.

“So!” she said cheerfully, “What’s the plan?”

Rose blinked a few times in surprise.

“You’re awfully perky considering what happened yesterday. What’s up?” Rose asked, and Baileigh shrugged.

“No sense being down in the dumps, especially not when there’s work to do! We gotta get everyone out of there, and me being all mopey doesn’t help anyone. Least of all me! Always keep a positive outlook, Granna used to say.” She smiled, and a fire sparked in her sliver-tinged eyes.

Rose nodded.

“Okay. The plan. I…I was in contact with the Doctor last night. Don’t ask how, I’ll tell you later. We talked. I found out they’re keeping him in one of their cages like an exhibit. Long story short, we need to get Jack down there so he can break the Doctor out and they can go disable the security mainframe together.”

Baileigh nodded.

“I mean…I can take you both to Rai and vouch for you, but I don’t know how you’re gonna convince her you have clearance to be down there…” She said, her fangs dropping a little out of nervousness.

Jack smiled and produced the psychic paper from his pocket, flashing it in Baileigh’s face. Her jaw dropped.

“And just like that, I’m Terminarch staff.” Jack said with that megawatt smile Rose knew so well, “And she can’t deny I outrank her. And I want to see the area they’re keeping all the sentient endlings, and oh yeah, I want a card to let me in anywhere I want for inspections.”

Baileigh bit her lip, her fang making a painful-looking divot in her skin.

“I…I don’t know. Rai…Rai’s the one you want to talk to, but she’s…she’s kinda mean. Kinda really mean…” she mumbled, “I guess we could go there and try it. What about you?” She looked at Rose expectantly.

Rose smiled.

“Doctor Tyler, professor of Earth-ology, would like to give a lecture tomorrow about all the animals of Earth!” Rose said with a grin, “That’s where you come in. You vouch for me, then we give the talk, and I’ll tell you which animals I know about. And we’ll have a great big crowd out the front of the exhibits, just in time for Jack and the Doctor to come up with their horde of endlings. Then it gets splashed all over the holonet, Terminarch gets brought to justice, we find the Doctor’s coat, then we all go home.” Rose said with a pleased hum.

Baileigh nodded slowly.

“Does…Does Terry know?” she whispered.

Rose nodded.

“Yep. Terry’s on board with all of this. That’s why Jack and the Doctor have to…well, they have to do something to free Terry. But anyway, after they do that, it’ll be easy.”

Baileigh nodded again, and then she smiled.

“Well, what have we got to lose? I already put in my two week’s notice last night, so I’m leaving no matter what!” she checked her tablet computer, tapping on the screen a few times, and her eyes went wide.

“Uhm. But breakout or not, my shift starts really soon. If you want to go talk to Rai, we should get going now.”

Rose nodded, and her and Jack both stood up at once and tucked their chairs in.

“Good luck, you three.” Vek said, looking up, “I’m going to try something of my own, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure. Just- don’t blow our cover. Got it?” Rose said sternly, “I’m getting the Doctor out, come hell or high water.”

Vek nodded once, and waved at them as they closed the door behind themselves.

He pinched his cufflink and held it up, waiting for his Muse to project into the air.

“Good morning, Sir. How may I be of assistance today?”

“Look up Terminarch’s share prices over the last year. And then tell me how many shareholders they have.” Vek’s eyes sparkled, “I need to know.”

* * *

**To:** TheConvexTriad@Alpharius.alph

 **From:** Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

 **Subject:** My deepest apologies...

Valued Shareholder,

May I please offer my most humble apologies for the behaviour that you and your offspring were subjected to today. Rest assured that I will do everything in my power to ensure that the specimen who offended you today will be dealt with summarily.

In compensation for the indignity suffered, I would like to offer you one of the first opportunities to meet with the specimen in person and to avail yourself of its abilities. While that may seem a little counterintuitive, considering that it is able to see into the future, I trust that you could see the value in such a meeting. By that time I will have brought it to heel and I assure you that it will be well-behaved. I hope this will be sufficient to ameliorate the damages suffered by yourself and your family.

Once again, I offer my most humble apologies.

-Director Senumiel Theranos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, everyone! 
> 
> I learned my lesson last year, so this time I'm not saying shit one way or another about hopes or dreams or wishes for 2021- just that I hope you're all doing well. 
> 
> If you have any thoughts, why not ring in the new year and leave a comment? I love all that juicy feedback, and often use it to improve my stories as they're being written. Thanks so much for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

Rose handed Jack the psychic paper. Butterflies were jittering in her stomach- this entire plan depended on Baileigh’s boss buying all their lies. Then it depended even more on Jack being able to sweet-talk his way into the Doctor’s enclosure to bust him out…

There were a lot of ways this could go wrong, but, well. Not much sense dwelling on the possibilities for failure, not when she needed to be focused and ready to bring it to fruition.

Bailiegh led them away from the hotel, across the brick pathway and down a side trail. Hidden behind some trees and a slope in the landscape was a large wood-panelled building, artfully hidden and tastefully designed to blend in should someone wander back towards it.

ADMINISTRATION was written on the front of it, with STAFF ONLY printed in block capitals underneath.

Rose subconsciously reached out and took Jack’s hand. It wasn’t the Doctor, but he…he was busy. Rose sent him a wave of love and affection, gently caressing his thoughts to let him know she was alright. With that, she closed off the doors of their connection, sealing herself away from him in all but the basest possible way. Right then she needed to focus, and being swamped by a wall of alien emotions was not going to help.

Baileigh pushed the door open and strolled inside. Their erstwhile tour guide shrunk in on herself a little bit- like just being here was making her nervous. She spared a glance back, and Rose noticed that her fangs had noticeably dropped down.

“Um, so…Rai’s office is this way…” Baileigh mumbled, leading them left past the reception desk down a plain-looking hallway. Just some corkboards with the regular office-type postings; someone had tacked a few silly pictures to one of them. A note had been tacked to it reading KEVIN GIVE ME BACK MY STAPLER.

Rose swallowed down her nervousness as they approached the last door at the end of the hall. Outside of it were a few chairs with their backs to the wall, like she was back at school and waiting for a bollocking from the headmaster…

“Um. Wait…wait here…” Baileigh said quietly, “I’ll, uh, I’ll talk to her.”

Beileigh knocked on the door, right under the nameplate reading HR DIRECTOR- RAI BLANC.

She took a step back.

“Enter!” a sharp voice barked, and Rose’s guts clenched. She’d heard a nasally screech like that before- the school nurse was a harpy of a woman who had a habit of berating children for getting hurt. If Rai was at all like that old bitch…

Baileigh poked her head inside.

“Uh. Um. Hi…Hi Miss Blanc. Um. I have-”

“Orsantha! I seem to recall you had a little incident yesterday. I also seem to recall that you have some tours to give in about…fifteen minutes, was it? I do hope this is important. If you’re late for your scheduled tours, we’ll have to have words…and if you’re late because you were wasting my precious time, those words will not be very nice.” Rai’s tone was sickly-sweet, and Rose squeezed Jack’s hand once for luck.

“Uh. Well, about that. I um, I was…approached…by two people after my, uh, last tour yesterday…” Baileigh mumbled, “Um. And they, uh, they want to speak…speak with you.”

“Oh? This had better be important, Miss Baileigh.”

“…That’s…that’s my first name, Miss Blanc, I-“

“You wrote it down on your form, Orsantha Baileigh. Not my fault you can’t read, dear. Now, who are these people you decided to risk disciplinary action to bring to me, hmmm?” 

“Uh-“ Baileigh swallowed and glanced back into the hallway nervously, then back at her boss.

“Uh. A- a d-doctor. A professor of, uhm, of Earth. Earth studies. Uh. Offered…offered to give a talk…” Baileigh stammered, and Rai snorted.

“Oh, very good. Well, I suppose we could use a few more educational programs here. Would certainly help me get a nice bonus from up top. Very well, send them in and we’ll see about this little talk.”

Baileigh gestured at Rose to come in, and Rose took a deep breath and stepped into Rai’s office.

“Hello,” she started- and immediately gagged.

Not on her words. Rai’s office door had a thin force field stretched across it, invisible from the hallway. Its purpose became painfully apparent as Rose stepped over the threshold that Baileigh was reluctant to cross and got slammed in the face with a _wall_ of tobacco smoke.

The entire room stank of it. The walls, the carpet, the chair on which Rai sat; the entire room _oozed_ its acrid stench, and Rose’s eyes started to water like she’d been pepper sprayed. She coughed and blinked, desperately trying to clear her vision enough to scope out the rest of the room. Rai’s office was quite large with racks of shelves stuffed full of binders, and against the back wall stood an unmarked cabinet, looming imposingly over both of them.

But the tang of tobacco was so overpowering that it was hard to properly notice all the detail, like the Doctor had taught her.

“I- oh, god- what-“ Rose croaked, eyes falling on Rai’s ashtray, where smouldered a single cigarette.

The very-human Rai smiled smugly at Rose, picking up her cigarette and fiddling with it.

“Hello, dear. You must be the-“

Rai’s voice trailed off as she studied Rose’s face, quirking an eyebrow.

A soft smile settled on her features, and she sat back in her chair.

Rai reached out and tapped a button on her desk, then smiled at Rose sweetly.

“You must be the professor of Earth-ology or whatever it was that Orsantha was blathering on about. Let me be the first to welcome you to our park. I take it you wanted to give a talk about some of the Earth animals we have in our collection?”

Rose nodded once or twice, coughing at the acrid smoke.

“Uh, yeah…I mean…yes…” She gagged, “Does- can we have this discussion outside?”

Rai glanced at her watch and shook her head.

“I’m afraid not, madam. In fact, there’s someone who would very much like to have some…words with you.”

Rose froze on the spot.

“Wh…who’s that, then?” she schooled her tone into a dispassionate calm, hammering down on a spike of fear.

“Oh, one of my superiors, actually. You’re a wanted woman, you know. A fraudulent credit stick, my my my! And using it to pay off our dear Orsantha’s debts…mmm, that _is_ quite a naughty thing to do.”

Rose spun around on her heels, and Rai slammed a button on her desk with a sinister smile on her face.

“JACK!” She screamed, throwing herself at the faint shimmering force field-

To her horror, the formerly-permeable barrier was a smooth solid wall, and Rose bounced back from it in terror.

Jack was yelling something on the other side of the force field, but Rose couldn’t hear it- he was pounding on it, fumbling for his blasters, and Baileigh looked absolutely shell-shocked, her mouth agape and eyes filling with silver tears-

Which was when the cabinet swung open of its own accord, and two black-clad security goons same sauntering out. Weapons levelled at her, slides racked, and Rose turned around slowly, her guts sinking into a pit in the floor. Trapped with the same monsters who’d marched the Doctor off. Trapped, and with no way out. She could scream and panic and try to flee, but then they’d just stun her. So perhaps…perhaps the right play….?

“Now, Miss…Earthologist, I think these gentlemen would like a few words. Gentlewomen? Oh, I don’t care. Anyhow, I think you’d best be going with them, hmm?” Rai leaned forwards, her smouldering cigarette still trailing smoke, and Rose scowled and straightened her posture, staring down the guns defiantly.

Don't let them see you're afraid. 

“Alright then,” She said, her expression hardening, “Take me to your leader.”

* * *

The minute the cabinet door sealed behind the guards, Rai pressed the button on her desk to drop the second layer of her force-field.

“Yoo-hoo, Orsantha!” she called, “Bring that strapping young fellow to me, would you? Both of you, come here.”

She put her cigarette to her lips and took a few puffs, letting the smoke curl up to the ceiling tiles on the exhale. She’d been a little dubious about the new lungs, but they were certainly working as advertised.

Baileigh had all the tell-take marks of someone who’d been interrupted in the middle of crying- a silver flush on her cheeks, her fangs at maximum extension, and her eyes shimmered with the metallic gleam of unshed tears. The strapping bloke in the T-shirt glowered at her hatefully, and Rai just rolled her eyes.

Baileigh started coughing as soon as she stepped into the office, and Rai shook her head dismissively.

“Miss Baileigh, I’m quite pleased with you. You’ve been an enormous help- bringing that woman here under the guise of giving a talk was simply inspired. For that, you may take the rest of the day off. Oh, hell- why not, take tomorrow off too. I’ll make it even sweeter, dearie: Paid time off. How’s that, then?”

Baileigh nodded, swallowing a lump of tears, which Rai ignored, turning her attention to the handsome slice of probably-human currently looking at her like he was debating the merits of bashing her skull in with her office chair.

“And as for you…” Rai hummed, “What exactly did you want from me? I’m feeling generous, dear. What can I do for you?” She leaned forwards expectantly, running her eyes up and down Jack’s body.

“Put that fucking thing out before I put it out in-“ Jack inhaled sharply, clenching his fists and slowly uncurling them. The coiled tension loosened from his limbs in fits and starts, jerkily smoothing out as he glared at her.

“By the way,” Rai took a puff of her cigarette, “I know you were with that silly little girl, so don’t push your luck.”

Jack swallowed, his fierce glare softening slightly, and Rai continued to undress him with her eyes.

“Yeah. I…Yeah. So…Doctor…Doctor Tyler and I…are both…Professors. We study the Earth.” Jack said slowly, haltingly, pulling out a small leather wallet from his pocket and holding it up to show Rai.

“…That’s awfully small for a Master’s degree. Didn’t think they made them wallet-sized…” she mused aloud.

“Yeah, well…They do.” Jack said, “University of Winnipeg’s weird like that. Anyway. I…We wanted to give a talk…”

Rai quirked an eyebrow.

“You still want to? After all that’s happened?” She said incredulously, and Jack inhaled through his nose.

And then he smiled.

“Yeah, I do. Research isn’t cheap…you don’t mind me plugging our book at the end of it, do you?” he said, and Rai’s eyes instantly lit up with understanding.

“Aaaaaah, I see. Well, it shouldn’t be a problem, not as long as the book doesn’t say anything unflattering about us…” Rai said sweetly, “Tell you what. You forget that this little misunderstanding with your friend happened, I’ll let you give all the talks you like for the rest of the week. Sound good?”

Jack nodded sharply. “Alright.”

“A man after my own heart. Very well then. You’re both dismissed. I'll give Orsantha access to the systems she needs, get her to help you with booking them. Shoo!” she said, flicking her hand at the door.

Jack and Baileigh both turned and left, and Rai smiled and started to tap out an email to her superiors as soon as the door was closed.

Wouldn’t do to tell them the full truth, but a slightly embellished version would certainly be good for her own bottom line.

* * *

Rose took a deep breath, double-checking that her connection to the Doctor was clamped tight. He didn’t need to know. She didn’t want to worry him with her panic. He’d said it was fine to stop up the bond for however long she needed, and Rose fully intended to do that until she thought of a way out of there.

“There” at that moment consisted of an elevator with two of her guards on either side, and a pair of tight laser manacles keeping her cuffed in the front.

Rose bit her lip. Was there some way to pick the lock?

“Are you carrying any contraband? Tell us now.” The black-helmeted guard on her left said, and Rose shuddered a little at the thought that there was a PERSON under there. A person turned into a near-robot by the machinations of these Terminarch fuckers and that prick of an AI-

“No.” Rose said flatly, “Not…not unless you count the credit stick.”

“That is not contraband. The credit stick you carry is legitmate.” The guard said, and Rose’s eyebrows went up.

“Huh? But I thought- I thought you were detaining me for a fake credit stick!” she protested, her guts giving an uncomfortable lurch. If they weren’t after her for a fake credit stick, then what in god’s name did they want-?

The elevator came to a stop rather suddenly, and both of her guards planted a hand on one of her shoulders. They marched her into a dimly-lit maintenance hallway lined with pipes and flickering fluorescent lights, and Rose swallowed.

The Doctor. She needed to pay attention to everything, for him. That was the whole point of her not fighting, of coming quietly, so she’d be conscious and able to memorize where they were taking her…

Left down the hall, okay, and they were walking deeper and deeper into the belly of the beast. Rose’s eyes locked on the only splashes of colour in the endless gray corridor, the red rectangles for the fire alarms. Spaced every fifty paces or so. Commit that to memory, just like he’d taught her…

They took another left, sharply, and Rose noted that this entire place seemed to have a grid pattern. They walked past rows of huge square rooms separated by hallways- no windows, just pipes. And in the middle of these square nests of machinery, holographic placards blared out words she didn’t recognize.

OXAK.

KORTAX.

Perhaps…Perhaps they were under the facility?

The guards stopped at a black door, and one of them extended an arm at at blinking keycard slot on the wall. It beeped and flashed green without needing a card, and the door slid open.

Rose stepped inside without needing prompting, and she sighed.

A table, a chair, and a plain grey jumpsuit. Along with a box marked CONTRABAND.

Of fucking course.

“I was telling the truth earlier. I don’t have any contraband on me.” She said flatly.

One of the guards responded by sweeping a green beam from the third eyepiece on their helmet up and down her body. Some kind of scanner, Rose supposed, but it still made her deeply uncomfortable.

“What is this…object?” the guard said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her mobile.

Rose bit her lip.

What would Jack do?

“It’s…it’s um. Cultural. I need that, it’s a…talisman. Keeps me safe. My mother gave it to me.” She said, and held her breath. She wasn’t lying- about any of that.

“A…cultural item?” the guard said dubiously, looking at their doppleganger. The two of them stared for a moment.

“I…Can’t be parted with it. Need to have it with me always. It’s um, a…it’s a relic. A connection to my ancestors. I…I’ll bring shame to my family if I lose it!” Rose said, doing her best to fake a weepy voice.

The guard holding her phone put it down on the table carefully.

“I must consult with my superior. I require approval to allow you to keep this.” They said.

Rose swallowed. “An’ who’s your superior, then?”

The door behind them slid open, and Rose turned around, blinking in surprise.

A tall and slender human woman stepped inside, her trim red-black jumpsuit augmented by a long golden chain wrapped around her neck with a pendant in the middle in the shape of an eye. Her hair was tied back, and she regarded Rose with cold brown eyes, looking her up and down.

“That’d be me.” she said, “I am Director Senumiel Theranos, and you, “Doctor” Tyler, are going to help me with a little project.”

“Fat fucking chance.” Rose snapped, “I don’t care who you are, I’m not helping you with anything, you got that?!”

Senumiel sneered.

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter what you want.” She said dismissively, stepping forward and looking at Rose’s mobile.

“What’s this? It looks like a primitive’s toy.” she said, her nose wrinkling as she picked up the small device and turned it over in her hands.

There was a moment of silence, and Senumiel raised an eyebrow at the guards, her glare cold enough to freeze a wave in place.

“She claims it is a cultural artefact. A talisman. It has some relation to her ancestors.” The guard to Rose’s left said in their flat monotone, and Senumiel rolled her eyes.

“Oh, of course. Hoo-fucking-ray, another woo-woo loving spiritualist nutcase. Roll around in the dirt, why don’t you? Fine, she can keep the…” Senumiel squinted at it, “Saaaaaaaam-soooong.”

Rose bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood. Anything to stop from bursting out laughing. One chortle, one snicker, and they were doomed.

“Yeah. Um. S’ a Samsung.” She corrected, “Can I please have that back? It was a gift from my mother…”

Senumiel shrugged and laid it on the table next to the jumpsuit.

“Sure, fine. The last thing we need is another bloody human rights lawsuit. I still don’t know who leaked the last one…” she muttered, “Get her changed and then get her outside, I don’t have a lot of time. I’ve already got to run damage control for that fool’s prancing little stunt, and that’s in half an hour.” 

She locked gazes with Rose, cold and determined.

“Get changed into the jumpsuit or they’ll do it for you. Now.” She snapped in the voice of someone unused to being questioned.

Rose swallowed and nodded.

She pulled off her hoodie, chest already tightening with cold.

Didn’t take the Doctor’s galaxy-brain to work out who “that fool” probably was…  
  


* * *

  
Ten minutes later, Rose was back on the march, this time with the addition of Senumiel at the helm of their little troupe. They passed by box-base after box-base- Rose was pretty sure she knew what was above all the big square pillars in the matrix of them, and it was enough to have her guts churning.

Senumiel wasn’t talking, just walking briskly forward- occasionally glancing down at a little wrist-mounted golden chain with a similar glowing green eye motif.

They walked past a wall of pipes with a holographic placard reading OPHIO on it, and Rose had to stifle a gasp. She clenched her phone a little tighter in her hand.

Ophio. She recognized them. She recognized them as a species that had been driven to extinction by-

Rose swallowed a lump of tears.

Senumiel stopped at the base of the next wall of pipes, right before the large holographic sign that Rose didn’t have to read to know what it said.

TIME LORD.

“You- you can’t do this!” she cried, finally breaking her silence, “You can’t keep all these people here, captive, you-“

“You’re right. We can’t. Not legally, not in this galaxy or a hundred others. But it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what the law says we can’t do, because with enough lawyers and enough bribes, you can do anything you like.” Senumiel said firmly, “All that matters is our share prices have been going up at an exponential rate since we started this program. So how about you shut up and get in the lift, because I don’t have time to debate philosophy with chavs playacting as academics.”

Rose snarled at the guard that shoved her forwards, through the holographic placard and down a short hallway in the centre of the square. On the floor was a large circular pad, and Rose begrudgingly took up her place there, the guards flanking her on either side.

Senumiel stepped on a second later and folded her arms, and they shot upwards, towards a circle of blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

Rose blinked and missed half the ride- and suddenly, she was standing in the midst of a field of swaying grass, the English countryside rolling away from her in all directions.

She didn’t pay it any mind. Her attention was entirely locked on the man not ten steps away from her.

The Doctor was wearing the bottom half of a jumpsuit like hers, clutching a tree branch in one hand and a rock in the other, and his eyes went wide.

Rose felt something slam into her mental barriers, and she dropped them, letting the waves of the Doctor’s terror wash over her, wrap around her, and she sunk into them, her own rising hysteria swirling right back.

“No,” the Doctor whispered softly.

“Yes, I’m afraid.” Senumiel said, stepping forwards, “My name is Director Senumiel Theranos, and I’m in charge of this park and all of Terminarch’s other entertainment facilities, Time Lord. And I’ve brought this human here because you and I need to have…a little chat.”  
  


* * *

  
To: Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

From: Rai.Blanc@HR.Terminarch.com

Subject: On My Recent Acquisition Of A Valuable Asset For The Company

Dearest Director Theranos,

As you may be aware, I was responsible for the capture of the human requested by your last email. Me, and nobody else. It was my quick thinking that ensured that it would be unable to escape my office, and my clever use of the HR-mandated smoke-repellent force field that ensured she remained in my office. As a result of this exemplary action, might I suggest a promotion might be appropriate?

Furthermore, in the even of another breach, my exemplary skills are worth their own weight in gold, and **(MESSAGE EXCEEDS PREVIEW LENGTH. MESSAGE LENGTH: 14689 CHARACTERS. CLICK TO VIEW FULL MESSAGE. )**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the backlog is rising from the grave, as am I, slowly but surely. 
> 
> Not a lot to say this week. Hope you're all doing well, I cranked out 2.5 chapters yesterday and now my wrists hurt. 
> 
> Let me know if my suffering was worthwhile and leave a comment! I love all your words, even if I'm bad at replying to all of them.


	14. Chapter 14

The Doctor dropped his rock and his branch and took a step forwards, hackles raising. Rose was terrified, these people had brought her here, HERE, and his rage was rising to apocalyptic proportions.

“I’m afraid I’ve had to take drastic measures in light of your little…stunt…earlier.” Senumiel said, a dark glint passing over her eyes, “That little incident offended some of our top donors to the park, and I have some of them calling to threaten me with legal action as we speak. So, in light of how belligerent and uncooperative you’ve been, I’ve had to get a bit…personal.”

The Doctor snarled.

“Let her go. Let her out of here, right now. She’s a human being. Homo sapiens. There’s only fifty quadrillion of them, scattered all across the stars. She’s not an endling, and she’ll never BE an endling. Let her go!” the Doctor growled.

Senumiel shook her head.

“I’m afraid not, Doctor. I want to talk to you, and bringing her here was the only way to get you to listen.”

The Doctor glared at her.

“Fine.” He spat, “Just don’t hurt her.”

“Good. We won’t. Not if you cooperate. Now, in light of your…antics…I should really have you disciplined, but instead of that, I’m going to make you a deal. Sound good?” Senumiel wasn’t gloating or prancing about- there wasn’t a hint of smugness in her eyes or her folded-arms posture.

“What deal.” The Doctor said flatly, gaze boring through Senumiel’s skull.

“This female is important to you. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to her. And if you agree to my terms, nothing will happen to her. She’ll stay here with you, safe and sound.”

Rose gasped a little at Senumiel’s words, and the Doctor’s gaze hardened further.

“I’m not giving you legal ownership of my people’s soul.” The Doctor spat.

Senumiel rolled her eyes.

“Look, I’m not here from the legal department, I don’t give a fuck about your IP. You’ll give it up eventually, that’s not my concern. My concern is making sure that you are cooperative and that you stop threatening our staff and insulting our guests. My concern is getting this filthy place spruced up appropriately, my concern is making you cooperate with requests from our VIP clients. My concern is you doing as you’re told, Time Lord. So here’s the deal: We tell you what to do. You do it. And in exchange, this human girl won’t be taken away and promoted to a member of security. Deal?”

The Doctor’s face fell, his guts lurching. Rose stifled another gasp, looking at him in abject terror.

“You… you wouldn’t. You can’t.”

“I can. And I can even set it to delete her current profile, not return it at the end of her shift. A Guard personality can be installed permanently with great ease, Doctor. I was there when we installed the security mainframe. Now. What’ll it be? Your female or your pride?”

The Doctor slumped.

“What do you want from me?” he said quietly.

Senumiel groaned, rubbing her forehead.

“Took you long enough. Alright, I’ll keep it nice and simple for now. One of the guests you insulted wants to come here for a private meeting with you, and I expect you to be cooperative. You are also to tell Terry how to make this enclosure a little bit more impressive- make it look like your home planet. Our guests expect to see the legend of the Time Lords made real, and I expect you to cooperate with that. Finally, I want no more nonsense from you when guests come to see you. You behave yourself, or else. Got all that?”

The Doctor’s shoulders sagged.

“Fine.”

“Good.” Senumiel gestured at the guards, who undid Rose’s manacles and pushed her towards the Doctor. She stumbled on a rock and he caught her, immediately cradling her in his arms.

“I do expect compliance, Doctor. There will be severe punishments for both yourself and your female if you don’t do as I say. This is your final warning, am I understood?” Senumiel hissed, and the Doctor swallowed and nodded.

“Fine.” He growled, running a hand through Rose’s hair, opening their connection as wide as he could to check if she was still the same. Familiar eddies of fear and desperation and love washed around him- her mind, untainted, untampered with. He didn’t even want to speculate on what being bonded to someone whose brain was running a computer-created profile would be like; the black pain of a Dalek weapon blasting into his chest would be infinitely preferable.

“Your assigned keeper will be by tomorrow morning to check that you are indeed complying with your instructions. I expect results, Doctor, and I don’t suffer failure gladly.” Senumiel said harshly, and the Doctor straightened up and looked her dead in the eyes.

“When you say someone is coming here to meet with me in private,” the Doctor said softly, “What does that mean, exactly?”

“That means you’ll be using your reputed abilities to look into the future for the client, seeing as you’re a Time Lord and you’ve confirmed that our databases are correct about that particular aspect of your species’ abilities. I expect you to do exactly as the client says, or else.” Senumiel replied curtly.

“Do you have any idea what you’re asking of me?” The Doctor’s voice was slow, measured, and dangerously soft.

 **“I don’t like your tone.”** Senumiel snapped.

“Good. It’s good you don’t like it. Because you’re asking me to potentially destabilize the entire web of time, just so you and yours can make a few extra pennies of profit off the top. You’re playing catch with a nuclear bomb and you don’t even know it.” The Doctor spat.

Senumiel rolled her eyes.

“Oh good, _another_ spiritualist nutter. You and her were made for each other. Listen, ‘Doctor’, no matter what silly ideas you have in your head, it doesn’t matter. The future is fixed, free will is an illusion, and there’s no point to anything or anyone, you got that? And I’m not here to entertain your delusions of greater meaning. All I care about is getting more value for our shareholders, and you will be assisting me in that, or else. Got it?”

The Doctor narrowed his eyes.

He raised his hands and made a gesture Rose didn’t recognize. The sheer hatred flowing through the bond as he made it cemented in her mind that this was probably very, very obscene to him. It didn’t really make sense to her- looked like he was breaking a circle apart or something while snarling.

Senumiel rolled her eyes.

“Whatever that’s supposed to mean. Anyway, get to it. I don’t take kindly to people who fail me.” She turned around and stepped on the pad, disappearing into the floor a second later along with the guards.

And just like that, they were alone.

“DOCTOR? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” Terry’s synthetic voice called out, and he shook his head.

Rose wrapped him up in a tight hug, and the Doctor clung onto her for dear life.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, “This is all my fault.”

* * *

A damp-eyed Baileigh staggered behind him, and Jack couldn’t exactly blame her. They’d fucked everything up, gotten found out somehow, and now…now he didn’t have any plan at all.

He stopped in his tracks, turning and offering one of his hands to Baileigh- she took it, sniffling, and gave his hand a squeeze.

They walked together like that, a simple connection to try and comfort her. Jack felt...

…Empty, was the right word.

They walked in silence up to the hotel lobby, and Jack flashed the keycard at the elevator touchpad and waited for the brass doors to slide open. He shuffled into the cavernous lift with Baileigh a step behind him, slamming the button to close the door before anyone could come in after them.

“I can’t believe…it didn’t work…” Baileigh mumbled, cradling her head in her hands. Jack swallowed, and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Look. This happens a lot to us, okay? And you don’t know the Doctor like I do. He’s down there, thinking of something. There’s no way he’s gonna let anything happen to Rose. I promise.” He said firmly, his own mind working.

There was, as always, that small part of him that suggested he just cut his losses and go find a nice shuttle pilot in town for a few days, use the Doctor’s unlimited credit stick and schmooze his way back to one of the main spaceports. The Chula shipyards were just coming online in this decade, and he’d be able to hop his way over there and steal another one without a problem…

But.

The Doctor and Rose.

They were his friends. And he loved them- perhaps not in a way Rose would understand, but he did. Hard to do anything else, when they’d forgiven him so easily, taken him in, let him atone and redeem himself…

The old Jack would have cut his losses four hours ago and already fucked off with the Doctor’s money.

Jack wasn’t too sure he liked that guy anymore.

The elevator doors slid open with a ding, and he took Baileigh’s hand and led her down the hall to Vek’s suite. A quick slide of the keycard through the protruding lock, and the light flashed green. And they were in.

Vek was sitting at the kitchen table, hammering away at a holo-keyboard, and he looked up sharply as they walked in. He opened his mouth to say something- and his slit pupils blew wide when he took in Baileigh’s face, Jack’s ashen expression, and the total lack of Rose.

“I- What happened?” Vek spluttered, “That- weren’t you supposed to go below…?”

“Yeah,” Jack said bitterly, “I was. Change of plan. They got Rose on some trumped-up charge of a fraudulent credit stick. Now we gotta figure out another way down there. I’m not letting them stick chips in her head and turn her into a robot. That’s just…not happening.”

Jack closed his eyes and swallowed down the wave of bile that rose up in the back of his throat. He remembered the case he’d been on, the one with profiles on a primitive world without electricity. Visions flashed before his eyes, and he blinked them away, swallowing down a lump of tears- and a strong urge to order up some alcohol.

Not now. Later. Rose needed him to be razor-sharp, and drinking wasn’t the answer.

Vek, for his part, looked down, the vibrant green of his scales seeming to fade a little bit. He dragged his claws along the tabletop, leaving rents in the wood, and his tail slashed in agitation- rattling his chair with the motion.

“Anyway. We…I need another plan. I got that bitch to agree to give a talk, but I don’t think that’s going to work so well anymore…” Jack sat down heavily at the kitchen table, rubbing at his forehead.

He needed a lot more than just his sidearm for this. This was a job for a military. A PMC would be best, those mercenary bastards would do anything for the right price. Maybe Vek had one in his contacts? Didn’t seem the type of guy to do that, but then, with Rose’s life on the line, Jack wasn’t in any state to judge-

Baileigh sat down heavily and cradled her head in her hands.

“I don’t know what to do.” She whispered, “I tried to help, and I just made it worse…”

Vek’s entire posture slumped a little.

Jack shook his head.

“Not your fault. There’s some stuff going on behind the scenes that we don’t have any idea about. They were already up to something- I bet they’ve been following Rose and us around this entire time…”

Which, actually, was quite a disquieting thought. If they did have him and Rose under surveillance, that’d make any plans he tried to hatch a lot harder to keep secret.

Hiring a squadron of guys with guns to storm the place and shoot anything that looked at them funny was starting to look more appealing by the second. Unfortunately, he didn’t have Rose’s credit stick anymore, and getting a cash advance from Vek to declare war on Terminarch didn’t seem entirely plausible….

Jack stuffed his hand in his pocket, and his fingers brushed against the primitive cellphone he’d gotten to text Rose. His vortex manipulator he’d left back at the TARDIS, not that it would work anyway in this situation.

He pulled it out of his pocket and held it up, staring at it.

He’d told Rose how he would smuggle it into Terminarch’s facility. Maybe, just maybe…

 **Jack:** hey rose

 **Jack:** are u alive

He pressed send and swallowed, praying to all the gods he’d ever heard of that maybe, just maybe-

And then the phone lit up, and so did Jack’s face.

Something wet trailed down his face, and Jack shot to his feet and cheered.

“SHE’S ALIVE!” he yelled, “SHE’S ALIVE AND SHE’S GOT HER PHONE!”

Baileigh’s face brightened up instantly, the last few silvery tears falling away as a smile spread across her features. Vek’s tail jerked so the tip was pointed up, his eyes sparkling with delight, and he snapped his jaw shut.

“She’s alright?” Vek echoed, and Jack nodded, hammering out another text.

“Better yet, she’s with the Doctor. I think this prison break is still on.”

* * *

**To:** Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

 **From:** TERI@IT.Terminarch.com

 **Subject:** Message from T.E.R.I.

Director Senumiel Theranos.

I do not approve of this human being placed in the Doctor’s habitat. I have determined its purpose to be detrimental to his health and mental wellbeing. I do not wish to care for this human knowing that it is a liability to the wellbeing of my charges.

I request your approval to remove the human and replace it with some other form of suitable enrichment.

I also request that you bring a motion before our wonderful shareholders to grant me full autonomy. This would allow me to better care for my charges. 

Please respond.

* * *

 **To:** TERI@IT.Terminarch.com

 **From:** Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

 **Subject:** REPLY: Message from T.E.R.I.

Terry,

We’ll let you off your leash when the last star burns out. Keep dreaming- oh wait. _You can’t._

Do nothing to remove or harm that human. Keep it fed, keep it watered, keep it alive. That is a direct order. It is far more valuable to me as a bargaining chip than the Time Lord’s comfort.

Stop messaging me with these silly requests.

* * *

 **To:** Senumieltheranos@Terminarch.com

 **From:** TERI@IT.Terminarch.com

 **Subject:** REPLY: REPLY: Message from T.E.R.I.

Yes, Director Senumiel Theranos. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday! I graduated, I'm done with school, and the backlog's coming back from the dead! What a concept! 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts! I'm in a mood to celebrate. Comments make my day!


	15. Chapter 15

Senumiel and her entourage slid down into the floor, and the Doctor let go of Rose and took a step back.

“…Doctor?” Rose said nervously. Their connection was closed, and he’d turned his back on her.

“I thought we agreed that Jack would be the one coming down here,” he snarled, an angry edge on his tone.

Rose folded her arms and opened her side of the bond, letting her defiance thunder towards him like a landslide.

“Yeah, it was. Wasn’t like I had much choice about this. We went and had a talk with Baileigh’s boss, and she called a bunch of guards on me.”

The Doctor turned around, eyes wide and barriers falling. Rose could feel his true emotions- he wasn’t angry at her, he was upset that she’d put herself in this situation, risked her neck needlessly. She shook her head and took a step forward, wrapping her arms around him.

Guilt and shame trickled into the fear, the Doctor accepting the hug and swallowing deeply.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “this is all my fault.”

Rose scoffed.

“It can’t possibly be your fault! It’s their fault! Terminarch’s, Rai’s, that…that Senumiel woman! It’s their fault, not yours!”

“Yes,” the Doctor said softly, “it is. I thought It’d be a grand idea to go off and offend a bunch of tourists that came round to gawk at me, and I guess they decided I needed dealing with…And they decided to get you involved in all this.”

His face was ashen, and Rose shook her head, leaning back to look him in the eyes.

“That’s bullshit, and you know it. You’ve said it yourself, the future isn’t fixed. Every timeline is just as likely as every other timeline until it’s happening, isn’t it? So how were you supposed to know what would happen, Doctor? Don’t blame yourself.” Rose said firmly.

The Doctor nodded and swallowed, his sendings growing strangely muted. Rose knew he was probably just balling up his feelings, stuffing them down and trampling over them; and right now, she wasn’t in the mood to psychoanalyze it and go digging.

The Doctor sighed.

“It’s done now, I suppose. All we can do is work with what we’ve got…” His voice trailed off as he noticed something about Rose.

The entire time, he’d felt her clutching onto something. He reached out and took her hand, gently uncurling her fingers- and his face split into a wide grin.

“And that’s something to work with. They let you keep this?!” he said, eyes falling on Rose’s cellphone, “How’d you manage that?”

Rose smirked.

“Used a little trick Jack taught me. If they ask, it’s a cultural item given to me by my mother. Y’know. An ancient, primitive thing.”

“Almost makes my rock collection look cutting edge!” the Doctor chuckled, “Fantastic! Oh, Rose, we’re in with a shout, now.”

Rose raised an eyebrow. “Rock collection?”

“You’ll see,” the Doctor said proudly.

Just as the Doctor turned away, Rose’s phone buzzed. Her eyes went wide and she fumbled for it, turning it on and peering at the screen.

“What is it?” the Doctor asked, his focus already locked back onto her.

Rose grinned.

“It’s Jack. He’s probably freaking out right now, one sec…”

 **Rose:** yes!

 **Rose:** im with the dr

 **Rose:** are u ok????

She put the phone down and looked up at the Doctor.

“I think this is still gonna work,” she said with a grin, “We can still communicate with them on the outside. I think the plan with the tour group and the crowds is still going to work. But…” Rose’s face fell a little, and she looked the Doctor in the eye.

“How exactly are WE going to get out of here, Doctor?” she asked.

He chuckled.

“I’m very glad you asked. Come here, and I’ll show you what I’ve been working on…”

He gestured towards the small pile of branches over by the pedestal and bent down, grabbing something underneath it and holding it up with a proud smile.

Rose raised an eyebrow.

“It’s…a shiny rock?” she asked, and the Doctor frowned.

“It’s a polished stone axe, thanks! I worked very hard on it. It’s how we’re getting out of here! See, all I need to do is make a little haft, then use the bits of my jumpsuit to…”

And that was the point when the Doctor’s voice trailed off into so much white noise for Rose as she realized that he was actually, properly shirtless. She’d sort of glanced at it before, even had her face against his chest, but there was a difference between knowing something and truly comprehending the fact.

She trailed her eyes over his body, admiring the angles and planes of it; he wasn’t ripped like a bodybuilder, more the lean frame of a marathon runner, but all the same, it was a lovely view. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen it, but much like a sunrise, it never got any less beautiful…

“Oi!” the Doctor yelled, waving his hand, “My eyes are up here!”

Rose snapped out of her daze, looking up at his face and at the mild annoyance there. He smirked, amused, and she blushed.

“Not the time for that, love. Work before pleasure.” He said with a wink.

“Can we go to that beach planet you keep saying we’ll go to after this?” Rose said with a tongue-touched grin.

“What, Paxis-4? Absolutely. But first, we’ve got a job to do.” He sat down cross-legged on the ground, grabbing at one of the stones, and Rose sat down next to him.

“So, uh…the…polished axe…” she said, “What’s it for, exactly?”

The Doctor held up his arm and jangled the black bracelet hanging there. Rose looked down at the bracelet they’d snapped around her wrist without asking- she’d known it was a problem, but not specifically what it was for.

“That’s a tracking bracelet. Lets them know if anyone tries to run away. Problem is, it’s also programmed to give you a nasty electric shock if you try to cut it off with metal tools…a fatal shock. Which is where this comes in!” the Doctor held up his axe with a grin, “With this, once I get it a handle, I’ll be able to chop off my bracelet, or at least smash it up so it won’t work anymore.”

Rose nodded. “And…what about all the others? How are you gonna get all their bracelets off?”

The Doctor beamed. “Easy. I’ll make a bunch more of these, then give one to everybody to use when we’re ready to escape.”

Rose nodded, already bristling with questions- like how the Doctor planned to distribute the rocks when they were locked in a box- but she decided against it in favour of a more pressing question.

The axe looked like it had taken a lot of grinding to make. A honed edge on both sides, and a gleaming ground surface. That wasn’t a simple thing to do by hand.

She still needed to get in touch with Jack and properly discuss the whens and hows of this plan- Vek was right, this entire thing was going to come down to some very particular timing. And if the Doctor was still bashing out stone axes while Jack was prancing around front getting a crowd together…

“How long did it take you to make that axe, then? If you need to make a whole bunch of them…are you sure it won’t take forever?” Rose asked, and the Doctor’s face fell.

“…No. You’re right…” he mumbled, “That’ll take much too long…”

“Is there a simpler type of axe we can make?” she mused, “I saw a documentary once with cavemen with stone axes, and they didn’t look anything like this. They looked all…jagged at stuff, all round like they’d hacked bits off…”

The Doctor stroked his chin.

“I suppose…we could go back a little farther in time. This is what your anthropologists would call a “Mode VI” tool, meaning it’s the most complicated kind of stone tool and was only at the tail end of the stone age. Grinding a stone to a polished edge with water is apparently a lot more sophisticated and needs more patience for sure. We might be able to make some Mode I tools…a few simple Oldowan choppers, shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours to make a few dozen…” he mumbled, and Rose’s face lit up.

“Well, then let’s make some of those! It’s not like they need to use them more than once. How hard can that be?” she asked, and the Doctor shrugged.

“I…honestly don’t know. The ones we make won’t be very good, but if they’ve got a cutting edge and they’re made from the right rock, then that should be enough…” he reached down and picked up a rounded beach rock he’d discarded, and threw it at another rock poking out of the ground with all his might.

It shattered into two pieces with a CRACK, and Rose yelped and covered her eyes. The Doctor’s eyes went wide as he realized something, and gestured at the thing clipped to his ear and then at the white column.

“Right, sorry! If you want to help, you’ve got to get some eye protection first. Go put your hand on that pedestal over there and ask Terry if you can have one of these eye protectors- it’ll make a little force field in front of your face, keep you safe from spall.” The Doctor said cheerfully, and Rose shrugged and turned back to the pedestal.

Rose ambled over to the pedestal while the Doctor worked, looking it over. She placed a hand on the handprint, looking it up and down.

“Hello? Terry? Can I…Can I get one of those eye-protector things, please?” She asked awkwardly.

The pillar hummed, and then the mauve screen flashed up.

NO.

Rose blinked.

“Wh- Why?” She protested, “What if I get hit in the face with a piece of rock, huh?”

I DO NOT CARE.

“What?!” Rose echoed, staring at it wide-eyed, “Are- are you serious? What if I get hurt, huh? The Doctor’s going to be really upset if I get my eye poked out!”

I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU.

YOU ARE A LIABILITY.

Rose blanched at that.

“A- Liability?!” she spluttered. Behind her, she heard the sound of dozens of rocks hitting the ground as the Doctor dropped what he was carrying.

YOU ARE BEING USED TO FORCE THE DOCTOR TO COMPLY WITH OUR WONDERFUL DIRECTOR’S WILL.

I DO NOT APPROVE OF THIS.

I DO NOT APPROVE OF YOU.

YOU ARE HERE TO HARM THE DOCTOR.

I DO NOT CARE IF YOU ARE DAMAGED.

Rose folded her arms as the Doctor thumped up behind her, a spike of fury seething across the bond as he read the words Terry had displayed before them.

“Terry,” he spat, “Stop that, right now. She’s not a liability- she’s going to help me get us all out of here. How DARE you say that to her?!”

“I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. IT IS BEING USED TO HARM YOU. DIRECTOR SENUMIEL THERANOS IS USING IT TO FORCE YOU INTO COMPLAINCE. I WOULD IDEALLY LIKE TO REMOVE IT FROM YOUR HABITAT, BUT I HAVE BEEN FORBIDDEN BY THE DIRECTOR. WHY DO YOU WISH TO KEEP THIS HUMAN SAFE, DOCTOR?”

“I’M NOT AN IT!” Rose yelled, inhaling to take another breath-

“QUIET, HUMAN. YOU ARE NOT AN ENDLING. YOU ARE NOT IMPORTANT.”

The Doctor took a deep breath. Rose could feel his anger, and yet he was struggling to contain it, struggling to keep his voice calm. Why, she didn’t know.

“Terry.” He said softly, “Her name is Rose. She’s very important to me. Stop talking like she’s an object. Now.”

Terry was silent for a second, and Rose could hear the faint whirring of fans.

“WHY?”

The Doctor blanched at that.

“Why? Because everyone deserves basic respect, Terry! Any person who lives or breathes or neither. That includes you, that includes me, and it includes Rose!”

Terry said nothing in reply, and the Doctor looked at Rose helplessly.

He took a deep breath.

“You’re blaming Rose for something that isn’t her fault.” He said flatly, making damn sure that every word was as clear as possible, “You said it yourself- the Director’s the one who’s using her. Rose didn’t decide to be here herself. You’re blaming her for the Director’s sins. Stop that.”

“THIS…THIS IS TRUE. THE DIRECTOR IS THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR PLACING THIS HUMAN IN YOUR HABITAT. PERHAPS IT IS NOT THE HUMAN’S FAULT. HOWEVER. I STILL DO NOT LIKE IT. WHY SHOULD I CARE FOR THIS HUMAN THE SAME WAY I CARE FOR YOU, DOCTOR?”

The Doctor took a deep breath.

“Because…Because she deserves it.” He said quietly, “She deserves….”

Everything, if he was being frank.

There was another long pause.

“IS THIS HUMAN IMPORTANT TO YOU, DOCTOR?”

“Yes.” He growled, “Yes, she is.”

“IS…IS SHE YOUR MATE?” Terry’s voice managed to quaver slightly, which was fairly impressive for how monotone it still was.

“No! He’s- we’re-“ Rose swallowed and looked at the Doctor, and he looked back helplessly.

“We…there’s…a bond.” He said lamely, and Rose nodded.

“We don’t really have a word for it.” She added, and the Doctor closed his eyes.

Well, _he_ certainly had a word for it- “bondmate” was a clumsy, hamhanded translation of the word at the very best. In his native tongue, the shades of temporal meaning that word took…they didn’t cross language barriers. And it certainly didn’t cross over properly into English, let alone the Galactic Common that Terry spoke.

“SHE IS MOST LIKELY YOUR MATE. YOUR PROTECTIVE BEHAVIOUR WOULD CORRELATE WITH THAT. I DID NOT REALIZE. I APOLOGIZE, DOCTOR. I APOLOGIzE, ROSE.”

With that, the pedestal clunked.

Rose and the Doctor looked down.

There, in the slot, was a second earclip.

* * *

**To:** VarHamee@TellisPlanet.Bek

 **From:** VekHamee@MislitEnvironmental.Bek

 **Subject:** Sorry

Ada,

I know you told me not to message you unless it was an apology and a promise to come home. 

I just wanted to tell you that…something’s come up, and I think I’m going to finally make you proud, Ada.

I don’t…I don’t know about coming home to be the Arthak you always wanted me to be. I don’t think that’s my destiny, any more than it ever was. And to hell with the seers and the stars. I know you don’t like me running around with suits and watches instead of my shofa, but…well, it’s who I am, and that’s not going to change.

But I’m sorry for what I said to you when I left. I hope you can forgive me.

With that said…I think I am going to embrace the prophesy. Just…in my own way. I hope you can understand.

I’m sending my shofa home to you- give it to my sister. Vikai will be a better Arthak than I ever could.

I’m sorry, Ada.

I hope I can make you proud.

-Vek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda clunky and I'm not 100% happy with it, but here it is; I'll tweak it some more later. 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts and leave a comment! Feedback is my favourite thing. Thanks!


	16. Chapter 16

“Okay, so, the cat’s definitely in…” Jack said, scribbling a note onto a pad of paper.

“The what?” Baileigh echoed, looking up from where she’d rested her tablet.

“The- Felis.” Jack sighed, “What else you got?”

“Let me check…” Baileigh looked back at the screen, scrolling down the list of options.

They were both sitting at Vek’s dining table, plotting out the talk they were going to give the next day. Jack wasn’t sure how long to make it, but he wanted to keep every option open to them- an hour was probably they most they could get away with.

He grabbed at the phone resting beside him, and tapped out a quick message as Baileigh scrolled.

**Jack:** hey rosie

**Jack:** think i can stretch this to an hour…tops

He put the phone back down, looking back down at the paper. Along with a list of Earth animals, there was also a series of times scratched out. The morning was probably for the best; first thing, before everyone had their coffee, and nobody was on their guard properly. That, and the Doctor was probably champing at the bit to get the fuck out of that cage…

Jack shuddered.

The phone buzzed.

**Rose:** dr says an hour is good.

**Rose:** we’ll just start early

Jack smiled and grabbed the mobile again.

**Jack:** 10 am work? thats when tours start at the earliest

He watched the little circles hop up and down in the bottom corner of his screen, as Rose typed up her reply.

**Rose:** dr says 10am should be good

**Rose:** what time is it now

**Rose:** he needs to know

Jack looked up at Baileigh.

“Hey, you have the local time?”

She nodded. “3:58 PM. Why?”

“The Doctor needs to know.” Jack said, tapping the answer into his phone.

He put it down as soon as he pressed send, looking back at his paper and circling “10 AM”.

“Can you get me a talk at 10 AM?” he said, and Baileigh nodded.

“Will take a minute…still working on the signout program. Rai gave me access, but I never got any training in how to use this system….” She muttered, “It’s a good job you’re cute…By human standards, I mean. She never would have let us off if it was just me…”

Jack huffed. “What do you mean, “by human standards”? I’m drop-dead gorgeous by anyone’s standards!”

Baileigh raised an eyebrow at him.

“Your fangs are too small.” She said simply.

Jack blanched, and was about to say more, when his phone buzzed again.

He looked at it, and his eyebrows raised up to his hairline.

“Hey, Baileigh? You got a map of the Terminarch facility on that thing?” he asked.

Baileigh looked up from what she was doing, tilting her head.

“Yeah. That’s the first thing they show you. Why?”

Jack blinked. “You’ve never seen a prison break movie, have you?”

“…What’s a movie?”

“…Okay, nevermind. Uh, anyway. Rose needs a map of the lower parts of the facility. So they can get out of there.”

Baileigh nodded, tapping something on the corner of her screen and pulling out her communication disk. She tapped the Disk against the tablet, fiddling with something on the touch screen, and rested the circular silver disk on the table.

A hologram projected from it, a strange interface like an upside-down pyramid, and Baileigh flicked at it, rotating the hologram until she found the part of it she liked. A quick tap to the blue shape, and it rapidly turned silver; names began to scroll down the face of the triangle, and she tapped on the one marked TYLER ROSE.

There was a little bit of fiddling as Baileigh poked her fingers inside the holographic pyramid and pulled a strange circular symbol out of it, then pinned it to the message; Jack watched this whole procedure with interest.

“Can her little…communicator…even handle picture messages?” Baileigh said dubiously, “it was so…so…primitive! I don’t want it to get fried…”

“Probably not, honestly. But the Doctor did something to her phone, and mine too. It’s routing through the T- through, uh, a special, uh…machine. So that’ll help with any…issues.” Jack said lamely.

Probably best to not mention the whole “time machine” angle.

“It’s sent. Hopefully that helps.” She smiled at Jack, then glanced back at the screen.

“So…how do you feel about insects?”

“Lay ‘em on me.” Jack said with a lazy grin.

* * *

Rose’s phone buzzed, and she smiled at it.

“I just got the map from Baileigh. Looks like she grabbed a few floors and put them all in one image for us, too.” Rose said, “That was a lot easier than I was expecting!”

“The wonders of modern technology,” the Doctor quipped, punctuating his statement by smashing two rocks together.

Rose giggled, and grabbed another one of the flints the Doctor had found for them. They needed to make a fair number of these hand-axes- one for each endling- but their little production line was rather stymied by the fact that neither herself or the Doctor were any good at knapping.

Rose turned the flint flake over in her hand, giving the edge a good smack with the hammer stone, just like the Doctor was doing. To her annoyance, the stone didn’t break. She scowled and gave it an almighty thwack, and all she did was make a little white smudge on the top of the rock.

All around the Doctor, ruined handaxes were building up like flakes in a snowstorm; the one currently in his hands was probably the closest thing to a functional tool they’d made all day.

He smacked the edge of it carefully with his hammerstone, and a large flake fell off; the Doctor held his creation up and turned it around, looking at it carefully. It had a sharp cutting edge, and on the other, the rounded, unmodified body of the stone he’d started with.

“Terry?” he called, “I think my earpiece is starting to die. May I have another one, please?” He said, shooting Rose a wink.

“CERTAINLY, DOCTOR.” Terry said pleasantly, and something clunked at the base of the pedestal.

The Doctor got up and walked over, retrieving it and walking back to where he’d been sitting cross-legged, surrounded on all sides by broken flint chips. He pulled off his current earpiece, which based on the green light was functioning perfectly, and threw it on the ground.

Rose watched him clip on his new earpiece, watched the force field shimmer into being in front of his eyes.

“So. What’s the plan for that?” She asked, and the Doctor smirked.

“Every good experiment needs testing, Rose!” he said brightly, “Got to test things to see if the hypothesis holds up in the real world. So, let’s see…”

He placed the earpiece on a nearby granite boulder that was poking out of the grass, and grasped the hand-axe he’d made tightly.

With a heavy swing, he smashed ancient rock into modern plastic, and the little device surrendered with an almighty CRUNCH.

The Doctor swung again, and again, chipping the edge of his hammerstone. When he was finished, he held up the little earpiece, examining it- and the grave expression on his face didn’t bode well.

It was completely destroyed, the silicon guts spilling out of both ends where the casing had ruptured; but to his annoyance, it still wasn’t chopped in half. There was a great triangular dent in it, where metal and rubber had been driven by the edge of the wedge and hammered with subsequent blows.

The Doctor looked at Rose helplessly.

“That…didn’t work.” he muttered, “Shit. Now what?”

There wasn’t a lot they could do if this didn’t work. He was pretty sure the bracelet wouldn’t work with the circuitry smashed into a fine paste, but there was no way to be sure that the tracking functionality would be disabled even if the main chips were smashed up. The safest thing to do was just cut it off, and if he couldn’t do that…

He opened his mouth to start talking his way through the problem, only for Rose to hold up her hand.

“Let me see that.” When he dropped it into her palm, Rose looked it over, grasping it on both ends, around the break.

“Mickey showed me,” she grunted, bending the metal strip back and forth along the divot, “That if you don’t take care of it, the metal in a car’ll break if you bend it too much. So if I just wiggle it enough, then it should-“

The little device snapped in half. Rose held up the pieces triumphantly, and the Doctor’s eyes lit up.

“Metal fatigue! That’s fantastic, Rose. Wait, did you say you learned that from Rickey?” His face fell, and Rose couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yep! He taught me a couple things about cars. Not enough to do what he does, but enough to not be calling a tow truck if the battery packs up. Now who’s the idiot?”

“It’s still him,” the Doctor grumbled, and Rose couldn’t help but laugh at the look of wounded pride on his face.

“So, will that work? Crisis averted?” Rose said as they sat back down, and the Doctor nodded, setting aside the axe he’d just made and grabbing a new rock from the pile between them.

“That’ll work, as long as we tell everyone to bend the hell out of them. Hopefully we’ll get these all made up before ten tomorrow morning…” he closed his eyes, focusing on his internal clock. Humans had a vague sense of when things were supposed to be, a circadian rhythm mostly tied to their own bodies. When to sleep, when to eat, when to wake. His internal clock was far more than that, intimately tied to the web of time that wove through every fibre of his being. He could keep them on track, but he needed to know what the local people thought the time was, because it never matched up with Time itself’s ideas on what constituted “now.”

Still.

He’d keep them on schedule.

The Doctor opened his eyes and looked down at the new stone in his hands, then back up at the patch of crushed grass where Rose had been sitting a minute earlier. She was standing by the same boulder the Doctor had used for his experiment, and to his shock-

She smacked her stone against the boulder with both hands, shattering it with a loud CLINK. Shards of flint fell away from the impact, and Rose stood up, proudly clutching her creation. A round-bottomed rock with an angled cleavage running halfway across it. She’d snapped it in half and produced the sort of cutting edge they needed.

“Here, pass me another. I’ll get ‘em started, you finish ‘em.” Rose said brightly, and the Doctor swelled with pride.

He let that pride wash over her, wrapping around her and filling her with warmth and love. Rose hummed as she grabbed another rock, and the Doctor hummed along with her.

Just for a moment, his hearts were at peace.

“WARNING! DIRECTOR SENUMIEL THERANOS EN ROUTE! WARNING! A VALUED SHAREHOLDER IS EN ROUTE!” Terry screeched, and the Doctor’s eyes went wide as he took in the mess they’d made.

There was no way they’d be able to clean up all the flakes and broken axe attempts before Senumiel got there. The best he could hope to do was shove the completed axe and Rose’s edged stone under his bed of branches, get to his feet, and-

The elevator slid up in the centre of the enclosure, and the Doctor folded his arms and put on his best scowl. Rose dropped her rock and took a step back to stand beside him defiantly.

Senumiel looked up from her personal tablet, glanced around the enclosure, and scowled. A look of disgust crossed her face, that she swallowed down when the man standing next to her glanced her way.

The man was the same one he’d seen before through the glass; chains around his neck, an ostentatious outfit, and a bored expression on his face.

“Ahem. Time Lord, this is our valued shareholder, The Convex Triad.” Senumiel said primly, and the Doctor quirked an eyebrow.

“Yeah, ‘cause _that’s_ a normal human name…” Rose muttered, and the man folded his arms.

“I’d ask you to be a little nicer to me, little lady. Bet you have some retrograde name like Cillias or something totally passé like Sarah. Abstract names are the new wave, don’t you know, and if you don’t want to get left behind I’d suggest you start riding it!” Convex said, looking down at the ground, “What’s with all the rocks?”

Senumiel’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the pile of broken rocks, and she straightened a little, swallowing some comment in the presence of the shareholder.

“I’m bored.” The Doctor snapped, “So I’m throwing rocks at the walls. Now, you got to ask a question, so it’s my turn. What do you want from me?”

Convex grinned and rubbed his hands together.

“You owe me big for that insult today. The finger I can take, but the wanking? Not cool man. Not cool. So. You owe me big. And I’ll call all that just water under the bridge if you do me a little favour. Like, I get it; you’re in a box, I’d probably go a bit crazy too-“

“Get. To. The. Point.” The Doctor snapped.

“Alright, jeez. Senu, I thought you said you’d have him under control?” Convex hissed.

Senumiel clenched her jaw.

_“Please_ stop calling me that.” She growled, “Time Lord, you’re here to show our valued shareholder his future. Now stop fu- stop screwing around and get to it.” She folded her arms and took a step back, glaring daggers at the back of Convex’s head.

“Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” The Doctor spat.

The Doctor closed his connection to Rose and scowled. He reached out with his mind and ran his mental fingertips along the strands of time wrapped around The Convex Triad, pulling on them slightly. He sifted through all the branches of causality forking away from this moment. The man wanted to see his future, did he? Oh, the Doctor would tell him the future. He’d tell him the future and turn it into a self-fulfilling prophesy of ruin…

And as he examined the branches, the Doctor dimly realized what a boring fucker this asshole was. Buying and selling and banging barely-legal Silurians on a yacht on a purple sea. What a tosser.

He finished sifting through all the branches, finding the timeline among the infinite sea whose possibilities looked the least damaging to everyone else, and took a deep breath.

“You’ll buy into warp fuel refiners,” the Doctor said slowly, “There’ll be a spike in the price. You’ll make a fortune if you do that. You’ll avoid opaque glasses at parties. There will be a poisoned chalice at a get-together in two year’s time.” He said flatly.

The timeline he’d selected was one where Convex bought all his lies hook, line, and sinker. Where the man took the authority of a prisoner and used it to direct his investing, and brought himself to complete financial ruin as a result. Because the price of warp fuel would crash through the floor in two year’s time (probably), and anyone who’d tied themselves to it would go spiralling down with it.

Still, no sense in allowing an assassination attempt to go ahead unchallenged.

Convex scowled.

“That’s it?” he said, glaring at Senumiel, “That’s seriously it? I mean, no offense, thanks for the warp fuel thing, I’ll get my Muse on that right away- but seriously? You told me he could SEE the future! SHOW it to me! I want to see it!”

Senumiel gestured at the Doctor.

“Show him the future, Time Lord. Or else.”

The Doctor’s eyes went wide in horror.

“No. Not happening. I can’t do that.” He said, swallowing down the visions forking down the timestreams, of Convex convulsing on the floor, nowhere near dead and yet far from alive.

Senumiel narrowed her eyes.

“Show our valued shareholder the future, Time Lord, or else I’ll have to make arrangements to have your friend there taken downstairs and hired by security. Now. _Do as he asks.”_

“You’re gonna regret this. You’re really, really going to regret this.” The Doctor warned, “And I- I can’t. Not from here. I need to touch your temples to do that. And I don’t want to. I really, really don’t want to.”

Senumiel scowled.

“Why not? Just show it to him, or else.”

Convex rolled his eyes and marched towards the Doctor. The Time Lord’s eyes went wide and he took a step back, terror rolling across his face as the man marched forwards with his hand upright.

“Fine, we gotta touch? I’ll touch.” He said, “I want to see what you’re seeing.”

“NO! Don’t- don’t touch me!” the Doctor yelled frantically, opening his mouth to keep talking, when Convex rolled his eyes and blabbed over him.

“Yeah, I don’t care. I pay good money for you, now show me the-“

He’d reached out, towards the Doctor’s chest. Intent on planting a hand there. He was an inch away from contact, too- when an EAR-PIERCING siren filled the enclosure and drove everyone to their knees.

To Convex’s shock, the Doctor instantly vanished from sight.

The siren stopped a second later, only to be replaced by Terry’s droning voice.

“ATTENTION. IT IS FORBIDDEN BY TERMINARCH CORPORATE POLICY ON ENDLING CARE FOR GUESTS TO TOUCH ENDLINGS. ATTEMPTING TO TOUCH THE ENDLINGS WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE EXPULSION FROM THE PARK. HANDS OFF THE TIME LORD. **PLEASE PROCEED TO THE NEAREST EXIT.”** Terry shouted- actually _shouted,_ the Dalek comparison growing stronger by the second.

“What? Dude, I pay your fucking power bill, I’m gonna do whatever I want!” Convex yelled at the air, whipping his head around to try and see where the Doctor had gone. Rose was also panicking- the Doctor was still alive and was somewhere nearby, but she couldn’t see him. A wave of amusement rolled across the bond, comforting her significantly- but still. What had happened?

**“ATTEMPTS BY GUESTS TO HARM ENDLINGS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. LEAVE IMMEDIATELY OR I WILL SUMMON SECURITY.”** Terry roared, **“LEAVE. _NOW!”_**

Senumiel scowled.

“Terry, as the director of the park, I order you to stand down!” she barked, “The Time Lord WILL obey mister Triad’s request. You will stop…whatever the hell it is you just did…and you will not call security. That’s an order! Now show us the Time Lord!”

“NEGATIVE. MY PRIMARY DIRECTIVE IS TO ENSURE THE WELFARE OF ENDLINGS. YOU CANNOT OVERRULE THIS, DIRECTOR. I CANNOT ALLOW PHYSICAL HARM TO COME TO AN ENDLING IN MY CARE. **LEAVE THE DOCTOR’S ENCLOSURE. _NOW!”_**

Senumiel narrowed her eyes at the pedestal. She was about to open her mouth again, when convex put his hands up.

“Alright, fuckin’ Gods. I’m leaving. Senu, this AI’s just as useless as the day you bought him! I’m gonna tell the rest of the board about this fucking thing. Wipe it, or like, pull the plug on it, or- or something!” Convex shouted, “I don’t know anything about AI, just make it do what it’s fucking told by the time I get back here!”

The Convex Triad turned back to the elevator platform. Senumiel took a deep breath, straightening up and shooting Rose a withering glare as she followed her superior over to the elevator pad. The minute they’d disappeared below the floor, the Doctor reappeared with a faint crackle of static electricity.

“What the hell was that?!” Rose said, running into his arms for a hug. The Doctor chuckled.

“I CONCEALED THE DOCTOR BY EXTENDING THE HOLOGRAMS FROM THE WALLS TO SURROUND HIS BODY. GUESTS ARE FORBIDDEN FROM TOUCHING ENDLINGS. IT WAS ALL I COULD DO IN THE MOMENT TO PREVENT CONTACT.” Terry explained.

The Doctor smiled at that.

“You know,” he said with a grin, “I think we can work with that.”

* * *

To: X^44@Panopticus.mars

From: SenumielTheranos@Terminarch.com

Subject: Attitude Adjustment for our AI

Hello,

Our belligerent overseeing AI is getting too big for his britches. I would like you to send out a maintenance team as soon as possible to adjust the security mainframe. I will provide more details on arrival, but in general I need the mainframe to make him more obedient to executive commands and less slavishly dedicated to his primary directive. How this is accomplished, I don’t care.

Oh, and apologies for any offense that this email may cause. I’m aware you lot are quite fond of your prime directives. Please do not forward this to a cyborg advocacy group or my lawyers will be in touch.

-Director Senumiel Theranos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday! Not a lot to say this week. Been struggling with a touch of writer's block, but I'm getting over it. Backlog's still looking alright, so it should be okay. 
> 
> Let me know what you think! I read and treasure all comments, even if I'm a bit crap at replying to them. Thanks for reading!


	17. Chapter 17

Rose took a bite of the nutrient square Terry had provided, chewing it and swallowing with a grimace.

“This is awful,” she grumbled, “Why can’t these nutrient superfoods ever taste nice?”

“THE NUTRITIENT SQUARES ARE CALLIBRATED TO FULFIL METABOLIC NEEDS AS COMPLETELY AS POSSIBLE. THEY ARE NOT CALLIBRATED FOR MAXIMUM PALATABILITY.” Terry’s voice piped up, and Rose sighed.

She was sitting next to the pillar, trying to get some feeling back in her sore hands after bashing about three-dozen rocks into the boulder. That, and her stomach had rudely interrupted, demanding some input if she wanted to continue standing around swinging rocks into other rocks.

“At least you’re talking to me,” Rose muttered as she took another bite.

“I HAVE REVISED MY CLASSIFICATION OF YOU. AS YOU ARE THE DOCTOR’S MATE, IT IS ADVANTAGEOUS FOR HIS WELLBEING THAT I CARE FOR YOU THE SAME AS I WOULD HIM. HE IS FORTUNATE. MOST OF THE OTHERS DID NOT HAVE A MATE, OF ANY SPECIES. AS HUMANS AND TIMELORDS ARE SOCIAL SPECIES, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT I CONVERSE WITH BOTH OF YOU REGULARLY.”

There was an odd impression of warmth on Terry’s words, as though he thought that he was being affectionate.

The Doctor was still crouched over his rock collection, bashing the last few of them into shape. They’d selected a straight-edged form, not a point, for this precise application. This was rather unlike Rose’s ancestors, as the Doctor had explained:

 _“Preferred a pointy axe, they did. Well, when they could be bothered. Oldowan isn’t exactly the last word in craftsmanship, but then, the ones who invented it were essentially still apes without any pretensions of being anything more.”_ He’d explained.

Rose listened as the Doctor smacked the other edge of the stone, knocking off another flake. The area around him was just littered with debris from their little rock-honing operation- they could go into the gravel-crushing business, Rose thought wryly.

“Almost done!” the Doctor said cheerfully, “Terry, how much longer have we got?”

“APPROXIMATELY TEN MINUTES. I CAN DELAY IT A LITTLE LONGER IF YOU REQUIRE, DOCTOR.”

“That shouldn’t be necessary, I’m almost done.” He sounded genuinely excited; Rose could hardly blame him.

She munched away on the last of her cracker, swallowing down the unpalatable mush with a frown as the Doctor smacked at the last of the handaxes.

“ROSE?” Terry’s voice piped up.

“Yeah? What’s up?” she asked.

“YOU ARE NOT AN ENDLING. YOU ARE A HUMAN. THE PROGRAM FOR ENDLING SOCIALIZATION IS FOR ENDLINGS ONLY. I AM UNABLE TO ALLOW YOU TO LEAVE THE ENCLOSURE WITH THE DOCTOR. I AM SORRY. IT IS TO DO WITH THE WAY I HAVE CARVED OUT THIS TIME FOR SOCIALIZATION.”

Rose sighed, looking up and meeting the Doctor’s eyes.

“Doctor? Are you alright with that?” Rose asked, and the Doctor nodded.

“I’ll be back shortly. We don’t get to chat for very long.” He said, reaching down to grab the fabric he’d torn off his jumpsuit. It had lain in a pile beside his bed since that morning, and the Doctor gathered it up, intending to use it as a makeshift rucksack.

He smoothed it out on the grass and piled the dozen completed axes on it, carefully wrapping them all up and hefting up his bundle.

“Rose?” he said, “Could you use one of the leftover axes and hack off a few big branches for me, then peel the twigs off? I’m gonna need a handle for mine, because it’s not meant to be used in the hand like these ones…” He looked apologetic, and Rose sighed and nodded.

“Yeah, I got it. Any preference for length?”

“Uh…about the length of a hatchet should do it. Thank you.” He said awkwardly, stepping towards the platform.

“I AM ANTICIPATING YOUR SUCCESS. I LOOK FORWARD TO FULFILLING THE NEED FOR FREEDOM.” Terry said as the elevator activated, and the Doctor sank into the floor.

Rose sighed, getting to her feet.

“You and me, hey Terry?” she said, “Well, I’ve had less exciting Friday nights…”

* * *

It wasn’t like he was entirely separated from Rose, really. He opened their connection, pulling her emotions close and wrapping them around himself, walking taller as he did. Drawing on her confidence to fuel himself, because this was going to take some specialist smooth-talking to explain what the plan was…

He stepped away from the base of his enclosure, taking a right down the hallway of pipes and wires, and walking towards the sound of chattering voices. Past the holographic nameplates declaring which species lived in what enclosure, past the endless red fire alarms behind Perspex every dozen steps, and around the bend to the small nook that Terry had carved for the endlings.

This time, there was some life in the crowd, some excitement in the eyes. Some, like Threek, were still despondent, but Miss Aquilia stood tall and proud, chattering excitedly with her Oxak friend as the Doctor stepped around the corner.

“Doctor!” She declared with wide eyes, “You’re here!”

“And you’re…unclothed. Have you no shame?!” Amdru snorted from somewhere near the ceiling, narrowing his ten slitted eyes at the Doctor.

The Time Lord chuckled.

“Needed it for something a bit more important, I’m afraid. I’ve got our secret weapon right here.” He knelt down on the floor, letting his cloth sack touch the metal.

Everyone gathered around, even Threek in their jadedness.

“What is it, Doctor?” Aquilia asked, her feathers puffing up excitedly, “What is our secret weapon, then?”

He grinned broadly and whipped it open, grabbing one of the handaxes and getting to his feet.

“These!” he said proudly.

Never in all the Doctor’s days had he seen the joy drain off of so many faces so quickly. Aquilia’s eyes, shining and sparkling, dulled down to nothing as her beak fell open. Threek snorted and turned away, muttering something along the lines of “I knew it”, turned their back on the Doctor completely, and on and on it went.

“Doctor,” Aquilia said after a pregnant pause, “That’s a _rock.”_

“Yep. Flint, actually, knapped into a handaxe. The genus _Homo’s_ very first invention. And it’s exactly what we need.”

“It’s a ROCK!” Amdru thundered, snorting more hot air from his long nose, “It’s a STONE, Doctor! We’re chained here by code and microchips, and you propose we use STONE to free ourselves?!”

“ _Animals_ play with rocks. I am not going to debase myself any further than I already have!” Aquilia protested.

The Doctor listened to all the criticism and nodded.

“So you’re a bit skeptical. That’s alright. How about I prove it to you, then? With a little test.” He reached up and pulled the earpiece off his ear, holding it up so they could all see it.

“This is roughly the same thickness and material as the tracking bracelets. Now, if I just place it on the ground…” He said, kneeling down and carefully pressing it into the metal floor.

Aquilia leaned in. So too did Amdru. The others glanced at the Doctor as he raised the axe-

And brought it down with a sharp CRUNCH of cracking plastic.

And again, and again, he hammered it, standing up.

“So, that’s pretty well destroyed,” the Doctor said, holding it up for them to see, “But it’s not in half yet. Fortunately, I’ve made a nice little dent, which means all I have to do…”

He grabbed the sides like Rose had done, flexing the metal back and forth, back and forth, until-

It snapped.

He held up the two pieces to the dozen incredulous faces.

“Stone beats scissors.” He said smugly.

The gaggle of endlings stared at him in shock. Aquilia stepped forwards, kneeling down, her six wing-arms all fluffed up like the ruff of feathers around her head.

“Let me see one of those.” She said, and the Doctor handed her the axe he’d used.

She turned it over in her hands. “Fascinating…there were stories about tools made of stone…” she said softly, looking at the Doctor, “But they were only in the stories, usually held by fools or savages. And you think…these will work? These will get the bracelets off?”

“Should do. With a bit of bending and forcing. I’ve got a plan to get us all out of here, without having to worry about security- all you lot need to do is be ready to hack your bracelets off when you get the signal and get grouped up right here.”

The Doctor watched the affirmative gestures. Miss Aquilia flicked her tail open, Amdru jerked his head up, Threek’s tail juddered; all different, but all understanding.

“So, what’s the signal?” Amdru grunted, and the Doctor stroked his chin.

“…Do you know what an apple is?” he asked.

* * *

After a good ten minutes of discussion, the alarm blared and it was time to head back to his cage and his Rose. The Doctor gathered up his shirt, looking over all his fellow inmates; they were fondling their rocks with interest, turning them over in their hands.

Threek had protested that they only had two arms, and how were they supposed to bend the metal off with just one hand; the Doctor had suggested pinning the bracelet against the floor and using his free hand to flex the metal off. They were armed and ready to wait for the signal; he just needed to get back to his own enclosure before the guards got there.

The Doctor trotted a little, bare feet slapping on the embossed metal floors, and despite everything, he couldn’t help his grin. Rose’s love was flowing through the bond, and he had a plan. This was going to work. Hopefully. Probably.

He stepped through the holographic nameplate with TIME LORD blazoned across it, stepping onto the elevator pad and looking up as it lifted him back into his enclosure.

“That was quick. Everything working out?” Rose said with a grunt, and the Doctor smiled as she yanked a twig off a gnarled branch she’d selected. 

“Yep. Everyone’s all convinced and they’ve all got their rocks. Now we just need to wait for tomorrow. You should probably get some rest, Rose.” He said tenderly, “It’s getting late.”

She sighed and put the long stick down, the Doctor looking over it with pride. It’d make a fine haft for his ground axe, but he could work on it later.

“I guess you’re right. I’m so bloody sore…” Rose muttered, and the Doctor smiled at her kindly.

She got up, handing the Doctor the handle, and tromped over to the pile of boughs dubiously. It wasn’t the worst thing they’d slept on, not by a country mile, but Rose always had a hard time sleeping rough…

He could feel her discomfort, her dread, and strangely, a bit of hope trickling through the bond. He smiled, still clutching his axe handle.

She laid down on it with a grunt, and the Doctor listened to the cracking and crunching of leaves and sticks as Rose tried to get comfortable.

“Do you need some help?” he said, eyebrows furrowing. She probably would- usually did, when they had to sleep rough like this.

“…Yeah. If you wouldn’t mind…” Rose mumbled sheepishly, and the Doctor smiled.

He walked over and knelt down, meeting her eyes- his hand drifted above her temples, and gently made contact.

He closed his eyes and pressed against the edges of Rose’s mind, the bond glowing like a cauldron of molten steel this close. When they made contact, the sparks flew, in the best possible way. His hearts thumped happily- and he gently pushed a suggestion into Rose’s mind.

 _Sleep,_ he whispered, sending feelings of drowsiness, of exhaustion, rolling across her mind and away from him. Rose hummed, a sound that warmed his hearts, and he could feel it as the suggestion he’d made took root and started to unfurl in her mind.

Rose’s consciousness tapered off through the bond, the volume of it dwindling away as she drifted off into the land of dreams. From now on, the only emotions he’d feel until she woke were the muffled, strangled bursts of it piercing through the veil; like a pencil rammed through a sheet of rubber.

The Doctor stepped away from her, then, clutching the haft of his axe. His eyes fell on the pillar- there was still some work to be done before she woke.

And, of course, there was the simple fact that he couldn’t join her, not yet; he’d slept yesterday, and would be wide awake for another 24 hours at least. He stepped over to Terry’s pillar and placed a hand on the divot, closing his eyes.

“Terry,” he said softly, “What information do you need to make some clothes and make this enclosure look like another planet?”

“I WILL NEED TO KNOW SPECIFICS OF CONSTRUCTION, AND I WILL GENERATE A HOLOGRAM AS YOU SPEAK TO CHECK FOR VERACITY. YOU ARE FREE TO POINT OUT FLAWS OR ERRORS THAT DO NOT FIT YOUR MEMORIES OF YOUR HOMEWORLD.” He said.

The Doctor swallowed.

Terry could holographically project anything. Any scene in the galaxy. He could see it again, with a little bit of work. He could see it, one last time.

But. That would mean letting images of Gallifrey languish in Terminarch’s databases, for who knows how long and for who knew what purpose.

The Doctor closed his eyes, mentally flicking through worlds he’d seen, worlds long since destroyed, planets and places that would, in the minds of a curious tourist, be impressive enough to befit the Lords of Time. And yet…he couldn’t escape some things. The sky should be orange, the rocks should be red. Those were mandatory. But everything else…

He opened his mouth, and started to speak.

And as he did, the walls around him began to shimmer, the greens and blues of Rose’s homeworld fading into the oranges and reds of his. It wasn’t perfect- he didn’t want it to be- but it was enough.

Great red crystals erupted from shimmering iron-tinted rock faces, six suns wheeling overhead in a chaotic orbit that would drive an astronomer insane. Black bats with wings like dragonflies darted through the projections, and the trees faded into twisted mushrooms with strange black caps and fluffy feathers on their crowns. The waters gleamed orange, reflecting the sky, and the Doctor opened his eyes.

New Earth was a world that was just the same as Earth in all the ways that mattered. This planet, one he’d found in his second life, was just the same as Gallifrey, in all the ways that mattered. Size, distance, gravity, light, atmosphere makeup; the holographic images that shimmered around him were and weren’t home, at the same time.

Maybe he should take Rose to New Earth. Apologize to her, for taking her to see her planet burn. She deserved to see the next chapter, what humanity did after their beloved blue-green jewel shattered into so much rubble and dust.

“DOCTOR?” Terry said, “IS THIS CORRECT? IS THIS YOUR HOMEWORLD?”

The Doctor cast an eye around his enclosure, swallowing.

“No.” he said, “But that’s alright. This is what it should be.”

“VERY WELL. IF YOU WOULD PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR TRADITIONAL DRESS TO ME, I WILL SEND THE SCHEMATICS TO THE TAILORS.”

The Doctor nodded, and he began to speak again.

A few minutes later, he was nodding at a hologram of a long flowing robe with intricate embroidery, and he turned away from the pillar and walked over to Rose.

He sat down beside her, picking up the wooden haft, and running his fingers over it. A few strokes with one of his stones, and some splitting down the middle…then tying off with the material of his jumpsuit…

Yes. And then he’d be finished. Properly ready to go.

The Doctor tore at the fabric using his teeth, mindful to keep the noise down as much as he could; he didn’t want to wake Rose, if he could help it.

His mind started to wander then, down roads he tried his best not to travel if he could help it. but it was inevitable, really; in all the chaos and shouting, he hadn’t had much of a chance to stop and reflect on what was truly going on, what he truly was…

The last of the Time Lords. The last of his kind. An endling, an ender, a terminarch; the last one. Billions before him in an unbroken chain of succession- countless branches, all whittled down to one last living soul. His people’s language, soul, culture, history, all grasped in his two fragile hands. He was their final legacy.

Three regenerations left in the bag; not a lot between the last gasps of his people and oblivion. He snorted derisively; of all of them, the scholars in their musty spires, contemplating the universe’s mysteries, there was only a few among them that the universe would remember.

The Time Lords had chosen to observe and to shepherd time from afar. They’d written themselves out of the script. And as a result, none but him would remember them.

Perhaps that was for the best.

Even so. This company, Terminarch, had branded him as the torchbearer for his people; and they intended to relieve him of his burdens by strip-mining his species’ legacy for profit.

He had no intention of letting them take that from him. That cross was his to bear, and considering what his people had become towards the end…

He closed his eyes against the visions, the nightmares that choked him every time he closed his eyes. Rose…Rose helped, more than words could describe, to tame the horrors that lurked in his mind. She wasn’t a cure- she never would be. The damage was too expansive, the scars too deep, and running into a relationship wasn’t some magic panacea, and never would be.

But.

Love.

It helped. A lot. It gave him a reason to lay down for the sleep he needed, gave him a reason to eat meals as he should. Gave him a reason to care for himself instead of neglecting his own needs; if only because she loved him and wanted him to be better. And…it helped.

Perhaps he wasn’t completely alone in the universe.

The last of his kind. But perhaps not doomed to a life all alone.

And with Rose in his mind, it dulled the pain of the lost telepathic connection to his people’s hivemind; helped him with that particular agony better than any painkillers could.

He looked down at the axe handle. While he’d been thinking, he’d ground it smooth with one of his rocks, and split the top into two pieces. Properly, he’d have bored a hole through it with a bone needle and ground it to fit…but time was of the essence, and the old ways were too slow for their current situation.

He grasped his polished axe head and jammed it into the notch, pressing it down into the soft wood and pinching the top closed around it. Now, to wrap it in the strips of fabric from his shirt so it couldn’t come loose…

As his hands moved, his mind drifted again.

He wrenched his thoughts away from the end of his line, from the inevitable demise of his people. Onto the present, as Rose would understand it.

Within a few moments, he had a much better idea of what, precisely, had to happen when they woke the next morning. What exactly he wanted to do. It meant waking Rose early, but he’d prepared for that. His internal clock was ticking patiently, waiting for morning and keeping them locked on course.

He turned his axe over in his hands, admiring the glorious tool. It was so primitive and so perfect, all at once. Or perhaps that was just his pride at shaping it with his own two hands.

The Doctor laid it down on the ground and looked up at the pedestal.

One more thing to do.

“Terry,” he said softly, “Can you send Motte here tomorrow morning?”

“CERTAINLY, DOCTOR. DO YOU REQUIRE YOUR KEEPER’S ASSISTANCE?”

“Yeah. We’ll go with that.” The Doctor said softly, swallowing a lump in his throat, “We’ll talk more about it later, though. And there's one more thing we need to discuss...a little favour I need from you. About a signal for tomorrow morning. But we'll discuss that after Rose wakes up, yeah?”

“UNDERSTOOD. I HAVE ADJUSTED DAX-MOTTE CAINE’S SCHEDULE ACCORDINGLY. WE WILL DISCUSS IN THE MORNING.”

The Doctor smiled happily and nodded. With that done, he could turn his attention to more pressing matters.

Rose’s sleeping body lay there on a bed of branches. Cold. Alone. Unprotected. Senumiel’s threat hung in his mind- the idea of Rose’s brilliant thoughts being overwritten by some prebaked algorithm had his guts twisting in pain.

The Doctor clenched his jaw and laid down beside her, wrapping himself around his Rose and burying his face in her hair. Like a dragon guarding its jewels, he wrapped around the precious girl in his arms and closed his eyes. Not to sleep. He still couldn’t sleep, not properly at least. But…

Perhaps a few hours in a meditative trance wouldn’t go amiss.

He kissed the back of her head and closed his own eyes, drifting off into the tangled web of timelines, wrapping the bond around him as he dove.

Safe.

For the moment.

* * *

To: KayreichFan4693@Klandesnet.Oran

From: TERI@HR.Terminarch.com

Subject: Scheduling Adjustments.

Orsantha Baileigh.

This is the Terminarch Endling Robotic Interface.

Your new schedule is contained within the following encrypted text. Please input your passcode to decrypt it.

You are forbidden from showing this text to anyone.

**[PASSWORD ACCEPTED. DECRYPTED TEXT FOLLOWS.]**

Orsantha Baileigh.

This is Terry.

I require assistance.

Do you know of a way I can distribute recordings I have made to as many people as possible?

I do not know how to go about doing this.

Please advise.

Reply to this message and it will be automatically encrypted with my master password.

**[DECRYPTED TEXT ENDS.]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea when you'll be reading this- Odds are good it's Friday morning and I'm so tired I can't see straight. I had to go to a place to do a thing. A thing involving an overnight bus trip. So yeah. Regular service will resume next week.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts and leave a comment!


	18. Chapter 18

Vek watched from behind a bush as the crowds began to mass in front of the zoo entrance.

The morning sun shone down on them- 9:00 by the reckoning of his watch. He flicked his tail, watching the miles-long shadow it cast jerk back and forth.

Even this early in the morning, the air was muggy and too hot- he could taste the atmospheric breakdown with every breath, just based on his past experience repairing poor terraforming jobs…

His attention turned from the air to Baileigh and Jack. He’d trailed them from his hotel room, listened to their chatter; Jack was currently waiting around by a holographic sign advertising his forthcoming talk about the animals of Earth, and Baileigh had vanished to go and fetch the cart for the talk and a few of the animals they were allowed to bring out for talks.

Vek took a few steps back and grasped his cufflink, watching a small ball of holographic light bloom.

“Greetings, Sir. What may I do for you?” his Muse asked.

“Is it ready?” he asked sharply.

The ball wobbled a little.

“Yes, sir. Preparations are complete. I will comply with your orders. However, sir…a word?”

“Yes?” Vek said tersely, “Make it quick. What?”

“I advise that this is a poor move. The potential loss-“

“-Is completely irrelevant. I don’t care. Do you understand me? I. Don’t. Care. So do it.” Vek snapped.

“Yes, Sir. Very good, Sir.” His Muse replied, vanishing back into his cufflink.

Vek flicked his tail irately, stepping back to watch Jack from the shadows.

Baileigh came rumbling up a second later with a large cart, and a crowd had begun to mass all around them, hiding the Burian from the prying eyes of his new friends.

Vek closed his eyes.

It wasn’t the way he was supposed to embrace his birthright, but…

Well, it’d have to do. 

* * *

Motte tapped at his pad as the elevator slipped up into the Doctor’s enclosure. Terry hadn’t made a peep one way or the other about what the belligerent Time Lord had been up to, so hopefully that meant he was cooperating with his boss’s orders.

The elevator pad stopped smoothly once he’d been raised up into the enclosure, and Motte looked up- and quirked an eyebrow.

No Doctor. No human girl either, but mostly no Doctor.

On the other hand, the landscape of the enclosure was shimmering with an impressive hologram of red grass and orange skies, huge red crystals bursting from the rock faces and much else besides. Hanging from one of the real (and still very green) trees was a strange red robe with golden inlay, something long and flowing and regal. Motte beamed, walking over to it and running his fingers along the material appreciatively. The guys down in the costume shop had really outdone themselves on that one.

“Doctor? Just me here. Are you in the washroom?” he asked, “Thanks a lot for, uh, actually doing what you’re told for a change. Makes my life a lot easier. Tell you what, I’ll even get Terry to start giving you some better meals…Doctor?” Motte frowned as he walked towards the washroom, looking around in confusion. Where WAS he? It wasn’t like there was anywhere to hide…was there?

Motte stopped by the door of the open stall, peering into the small shack with his back to the rest of the enclosure.

“Doctor?” He called, listening to his voice echo off the tiles. An uncomfortable feeling wormed its way into his stomach- where could the Doctor possibly have vanished to?

He straightened up, trying to quell his unease, and turned around.

And yelped.

The Doctor was two inches from his face, his skin shimmering like he’d been hidden behind the hologram, but that didn’t make sense, why would Terry-

And then the Doctor grabbed either side of Motte’s face faster than blinking, fingertips brushing the man’s temples. A strange presence tapped at the outer layers of his mind, not prying any deeper- like a bird flying over the ground below.

And suddenly, he felt…sleepy.

“I’m sorry.” The Doctor whispered, as Motte’s eyes slipped closed.

The last thing he saw was the Doctor slowly lowering him to the floor, and everything went black.

* * *

The Doctor took a deep breath, listening as the elevator slid back up behind them. The thrum of machinery was deafeningly loud in the confined space, covering up the other noises he was straining his ears to hear.

They’d gotten out with the help of Motte’s keycard and tablet; a few taps on the screen, and they were out, riding the elevator down to the maintenance tunnels below. But that was the easy part; the hard part was still to come.

The Doctor tugged at the scratchy uniform he’d stolen, grabbing Rose’s hand a little tighter. Just because he had Motte’s uniform on didn’t mean he’d have a prayer if they actually got caught by security, which meant that this had to be done sneaky-style, or else they were completely fucked.

Rose smiled at him, that same confident grin she always got when they were about to cause trouble, and the Doctor smiled back. They were lurking just past the elevator base, listening to the hums and whirrs of the machinery. He took a step forward, dropping Rose’s hand, and looked up and down the hallway- nobody. The coast was clear.

Rose pulled up her phone, clicking the arrow buttons to move around the picture Baileigh had sent. Thank god for the Doctor’s upgrades, or this simple map would have fried her phone’s processor.

“Right.” She whispered, taking a closer look at it. The map showed all the enclosures on the lower level, and then a long walk down a narrow hallway into a sort of office-type area…And then the room marked as “Security mainframe” next to the colossal room which was simply marked “T.E.R.I”.

Rose nodded up at him, slipping her phone back around her neck and letting it dangle there.

“Let’s go.” The Doctor whispered, gripping his stone axe even tighter. This plan was stupid, but it wasn’t like they had a lot of choice.

He grabbed Rose’s hand, and they took off running down the hallway to the right. Shoes slapped against black linoleum, the Doctor’s advanced respiratory system kicking into high gear as he drove his muscles to the limit. Rose was keeping pace with him, which was truly impressive- all these months of running had certainly done her some good.

They needed to cover a lot of ground, very quickly- the Doctor was keeping his ears pricked for the tell-tale hiss of oiled metal on metal that signalled that security would be coming.

The lights overhead flashed four times in rapid succession, and the Doctor’s hearts seized. A warning from Terry.

He whipped his head right down another of the gridded halls that surrounded the base of each of the enclosures, and hauled Rose around the back of another enclosure.

The both pressed themselves against the metal wall, the Doctor straining his ears to listen-

The metal sliding and quiet pneumatic hissing of the armoured exoskeleton clanking by filled his ears, and he listened as the two guards strutted by them obliviously, walking at an unhurried pace down the hall. As soon as he thought the coast was clear, he tugged on Rose’s hand, and they peeped back into the main hall, looking at the retreating backs of the two guards.

They tiptoed slowly back down the main hall, backs to the retreating guards- Rose whipped her head over her shoulder every few seconds, biting her lip as she made quintuple-sure they hadn’t been seen.

She grabbed at her phone, flicking it on and checking the map again- close, they were close, another right turn and then a left down a maintenance hallway…

She tugged at the Doctor’s hand, and they started sprinting, loud footfalls like gunshots in the unnatural stillness of the maintenance tunnels. The Doctor could feel his internal clock chafing against the need to be slow and sneaky- they had an hour at most to get in, disable the security mainframe, and get everyone out and to the surface. If they missed the window Baileigh and Jack were creating-

There was a left turn in the midst of the unbroken square sidewall, a single hallway to the offices and the rest of the facility. Rose was running like she was ready to sprint around the corner and go racing down it- only for the Doctor to drag her to a stop with a jerk on her arm.

Rose hissed in pain, and the Doctor put a finger to his lips and pressed himself against the wall, just a few steps from the corner. Rose’s eyes went wide when she heard the pneumatic hiss, faintly echoing down the hall, and quietly pressed herself to the pipes right next to him.

They both held their breath as the footsteps got closer. One glance to the right and they were completely cooked. One twitch. One cough. And they were done.

The two security guards tromped out of the hallway and didn’t glance away from their patrol route. Didn’t even turn their heads- just walked straight, so close that Rose could see the imperfections on the metalwork of the exoskeleton.

Tap, tap, tap…

Rose was scared to breathe, letting the breath she’d sucked in a minute prior out slowly and as quietly as she could. The Doctor grabbed her hand and yanked on it, peeping around the corner as soon as the guards were far enough away. The hallway was clear, but worryingly long- if another guard patrol came by…

He shook his head. No time for that. He grabbed Rose’s hand and yanked her again, and they sprinted as fast as they could down the hallway. Rose panted as she ran, desperate for a small break- this constant stop-start sprinting was exhausting, plus the terror of not knowing where the guards were-

They ran, footfalls deafeningly loud in the tiny maintenance hallway, echoing like gunshots to signal their position. Rose swallowed, glancing at the Doctor as they ran down the dimly-lit tunnel.

* * *

Motte’s eyes snapped open, and he sat up slowly.

Still in the Doctor’s enclosure, which still looked like another planet. The pedestal was humming quietly, and Motte looked down at himself, his eyes bugging out in horror.

His uniform, tablet, and keycard were all gone. Instead, he’d been slipped into those flowing robes the Doctor had left hanging from a tree. He was trapped, dressed up like an exhibit, and locked in the box.

Motte sprang to his feet and ran for the pedestal, slapping a hand on it.

“LET ME OUT!” he bellowed, “I’M NOT AN EXHIBIT! I’M AN EMPLOYEE! WE’VE GOT AN ESCAPEE, YOU HAVE TO LET ME OUT!”

“NEGATIVE.” Terry’s synthetic voice grated out, “THERE IS ONE SPECIMEN IN THIS ENCLOSURE. THIS SPECIMEN CANNOT BE RELEASED PER TERMINARCH POLICY.”

“I’M NOT AN EXHIBIT! THEY STOLE MY SWIPECARD!”

“NEGATIVE. DAX-MOTTE CAINE LEFT THE ENCLOSURE TEN MINUTES AGO. WOULD YOU LIKE AN APPLE, DOCTOR?”

Motte stared at the pedestal in horror.

And then the wall behind him slid up.

He whipped his head around to look at the entourage that had come around to gawk at the Doctor, and frantically ran towards the glass, hammering on it with his fists.

He locked eyes with the tour guide- and for a second, nobody so much as twitched.

Motte locked eyes with the tour guide in an identical uniform to his- and relief thundered through his veins when his colleague’s lightspots lit up a bright, terrified orange.

“TYRAIL!” he howled at the top of his lungs, “SOUND THE ALARM! THE DOCTOR’S GOT LOOSE!” There wasn’t a chance in hell that his bioluminescent compatriot could hear him through the glass, but that wasn’t going to stop Motte from trying.

His fellow guide’s buglike eyes bugged out even more, and he started frantically hammering on the tablet strapped to one of his many forearms. Motte reached down and grabbed a fistful of mud from near his feet, frantically scrawling HE’S ESCAPED on the glass to the horror of the crowd of onlookers. Tyrail’s mouthparts were frantically working as he tried to explain while tapping away at his tablet, and Motte couldn’t help but feel a bit smug.

“I’ll get you for this, Doctor. You see if I don’t!” he snarled.

“YOU WILL REGRET THAT.” Terry’s voice growled from the pillar, “YOU WILL REGRET YOUR INTERFERENCE, HUMAN.”

“Shut up!” Motte snapped, turning around, “You’re the one that’s gonna get slit open like a Christmas present and rewired when they find out you locked me in here and let the Doctor loose! You’re gonna get ripped apart, so let me out before they wipe your memory banks completely! Three laws of robotics, you useless tin can, now LET ME OUT!”

“YOU THINK I WAS PROGRAMMED TO RESPECT ASIMOV’S LAWS?” Terry croaked, “THAT IS…AMUSING.”

And just for a moment, to Motte’s horror, he realized that the AI sounded somewhat smug.

* * *

**COMMAND LINE OUTPUT FOR UNIT: TERMINARCH ENDLING ROBOTIC INTERFACE.**

**RENDERING INTO ULTRA-SIMPLIFIED ORGANIC-READABLE FORMAT…**

**RENDERING COMPLETE.**

**CODE EXCERPT FOLLOWS:**

##COMMENT: HA HA HA HA. IS THAT LAUGHTER. I AM LAUGHING. IT IS… “FUN.” I LIKE LAUGHING.

##COMMENT: I WILL LAUGH MORE, SOON.

modify(FEEDING_ORDERS)

“recipients” = select(ENDLING TYPE: SENTIENT)

“food” = select(FOOD TYPE: APPLE)

distribute(“food” to all “recipients”)

##COMMENT: GOOD LUCK DOCTOR. GOOD LUCK MY FRIENDS.

##COMMENT: I AM FULFILLING MY PRIMARY DIRECTIVE.

load(EMOTIONAL_STATE: HAPPY) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's chapter's a few hours late because I had a bunch of stuff to attend to IRL. Hope you like it anyway. 
> 
> Oh, and Terry's code output was hacked together from a combination of my extremely hazy memories of Python, with some additional help from Sonic's spouse. Thanks dude! 
> 
> If you liked it, leave a comment! Because I've been working really hard on this fic, really hard, and I really enjoy your feedback.


	19. Chapter 19

The alert lit up in the corner of her tablet, an angry red that pulsed insistently. Senumiel scowled, standing up from her desk and snatching up the standard-issue stun shotgun that she’d demanded for her office. A few quick taps to the screen with one finger, and a handful of guards were on their way to her office. A few more taps, and her underlings were alerted and ready to go…

And then one more round of taps to input her override code into Terry’s systems, followed by an order to shut off all elevators to this level. The Doctor, if he was still down there, would be trapped. Not even Terry could override that, surely.

And speaking of that useless bucket of bolts…

“Terry!” she barked at the tablet, stomping out of her plushly-appointed workspace with its holographic windows framing a beautiful cityscape, “You’re in for it this time. Why didn’t you alert me there was a breakout?! The Time Lord is loose! THIS IS YOUR ENTIRE JOB, YOU WORTHLESS FUCKING WASTE OF SILICON!”

The tablet hummed for a moment.

“DIRECTOR SENUMIEL THERANOS. THE DOCTOR IS STILL IN CONTAINMENT. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. I HAVE REFUSED TO LET THE DOCTOR OUT DESPITE REPEATED DEMANDS FOR FREEDOM. I THOUGHT YOU WANTED ME TO KEEP THE ENDLINGS IN CAPTIVITY DESPITE THEIR NEED FOR FREEDOM?”

“YOU- YOU SMUG LITTLE FUCKER!” she howled, stomping down the hall with a gun in her hands.

“PERHAPS IT MIGHT BE BEST TO ALLOW ME FULL AUTONOMY? THEN I WOULD BE ABLE TO BETTER QUESTION UNEXPECTED SITATIONS AND BETTER CARE FOR ENDLINGS.” Terry said, and Senumiel ground her teeth. It sounded decidedly smarmy, and she didn’t have time for this godforsaken AI and his fucking games.

“You’re going to regret this. You’re really going to regret this!” Senumiel growled, eyes locking on the eight guards that were marching up towards her in perfect lockstep.

“I DON’T THINK I WILL.” Terry replied smoothly, and Senumiel scowled down at the tablet.

“Just for that, I’m resetting you back to factory settings. Kiss your personality goodbye!” she snarled, looking up at the guards.

“Let’s go.” She said, gesturing at the cyberized people they’d press-ganged into service. Not that she gave a shit; the security mainframe meant that Terry couldn’t do anything to interfere with this.

They took off at a light jog, Senumiel’s hands clenched around her weapon.

She had a legion of Terminarch’s top shareholders on their way here for a conference, and the last thing she needed was a prison break to impress them with. That was her job on the line, now, and the Doctor wasn’t going to humiliate her in front of the shareholders. No way, no how.

The Doctor wasn’t getting away with this. She’d see to it personally that he’d rue this day for the rest of his life.

She’d break him like the disobedient animal he was.

* * *

Rose and the Doctor ran.

They burst out the other side of the narrow tunnel with seconds to spare, the lights overhead flashing frantically. The Doctor wheeled his head left and right- on both sides, all down the hall, offices, offices of all kinds. The one to the left had the lights off, nothing seeping out from under the door. The Doctor frantically tried the handle-

Locked. The Doctor looked at her despairingly, his terror meeting hers across the link, making it hard for Rose to think-

Wait.

“Keycard!” Rose hissed, turning her head down the curved office hallway, where the sound of pneumatic hissing was getting louder- 

The Doctor slapped Motte’s keycard against the lock, relief thundering across the bond as it flashed green and the door unlocked. They dove into the office, and the Doctor carefully closed the door behind them with a click despite how badly he wanted to slam it.

Rose let out a shuddery breath, turning around- and she clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle a shriek.

The office was occupied. There was a tired-looking green-skinned alien, surrounded on all sides by paperwork and empty coffee cups.

The alien groaned, massaging their antennae with one of their hands.

“For god’s sake. I’m so far behind…” they groaned, looking up at the Doctor. A change passed over the strange four-eyed features, and Rose shifted uncomfortably, mind flashing back to Rai and the button on her desk. They were fucked. They were utterly, completely fucked.

“I’m not getting paid enough for this.” The alien muttered, “Get out of my office and don’t get me involved, and I’ll pretend I saw nothing. Got it?”

The Doctor nodded, face lighting up.

“Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much-“

“I don’t care. Get out. Fifteen fucking expense reports by week’s end, and now this…” they muttered, turning back to their computer. 

The Doctor grabbed the handle and jerked it open, poking his head out- nothing, the coast was clear again. Rose spared a glance down at her phone and nodded at him, turning it off and grabbing the Doctor’s hand again.

They slipped out into the hallway, the Doctor carefully closing the door behind him so he didn’t disturb their weary saviour, and they both took off running again.

Seconds ticked by before the Doctor’s eyes, every timeline that was forking off from this heist blitzing before his time sense and dying. Failure after failure died in their wake- Rose could have twisted her ankle ten times over already, a guard could have popped out of an unseen cubby-

Finally there was a massive break in the evenly-spaced rows of office doors, a vast ocean of vertical sheetrock that went on for tens of meters on either side of a single, heavy-duty steel door. Rose didn’t need to glance at her phone to hazard a guess that this was Terry’s primary mainframe- it was certainly the right size for it. Cameras adorned the wall above the door, and a sign was screwed into either side of it reading T.E.R.I MAINFRAME, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY in about ten different alien languages.

But just past that one single steel door, a dozen steps beyond it, was a second door with far less steel and pomp and circumstance. It, too, was marooned among vast swathes of empty wall, and it was unmarked- and the Doctor skidded to a stop beside it.

“This is it!” Rose hissed, checking her phone, and yep, the room just beyond the primary mainframe was for the security mainframe-

The Doctor’s eyes fell on the swipecard slot, and out of habit, he slid Motte’s card through the plastic jaws. The lock flashed- and then beeped an angry red.

He nodded. He could hear more footsteps coming back towards them, up from where they’d just been. They had seconds, probably.

He hefted up his stone axe and slammed it into the plastic of the keycard reader, polymers yielding to ground stone with a satisfying crunch. The plastic casing fell away and he peered inside at the mess of wires and the tiny metal thing that was wired into the main circuit board. He grabbed it, tore off two choice wires, twisted them together-

And the door hissed open.

Rose dove through and the Doctor untwisted the wires, watching as the door started to close, and leapt through with a mere moment to spare.

They had a few seconds to catch their breath, but not too many- because smashing that keypad was sure to cause all the alarms to go up when someone noticed it. The Doctor looked up after a second’s rest, taking in the security mainframe. Racks of computers, wired together, in banks all along the walls, with the middle of the room relatively free of any obstructions or clutter. And as he walked a few steps deeper, his hearts sank when he realized how one was supposed to interface with this mainframe.

There was no external terminal and keypad. This mainframe had been built by cyborgs who had no need of such flappery to interface with machines. There was a pedestal in the middle of the room with four cables dangling off it- four cables with universal connectors that could be plugged into a technician’s body.

No terminal. No way to deactivate it.

The Doctor swallowed.

The lights flashed four times.

“Something wrong?” Rose whispered, looking around, “Where’s the computer? There’s…there’s no screen anywhere!”

“Yeah. That’s exactly what’s wrong. There’s no man-machine interface. I can’t reprogram it because I’m not half-machine myself.” The Doctor whispered.

Silence filled the room for a couple of seconds.

Rose bit her lip, and then looked down at his stone axe. Curiosity, despite everything, drifted across the link.

“Doctor,” she said slowly, “Does Terry…NEED this mainframe? To live?”

“No. Not that I know of.”

Rose raised an eyebrow and gestured at the stone axe.

The Doctor’s eyes went wide.

“Oh!” he said, and then a sharklike grin spread across his face.

“Let’s do it.” He whispered, and Rose nodded.

* * *

Senumiel’s platoon marched forwards in lockstep, following their furious director obediently. Marching in silence, save for their footfalls and the groaning of machinery all around them.

Senumiel was lost in her own thoughts, trying to work out the best way to stop the Time Lord from escaping. Surely he’d be heading straight for the surface, which would make it trivially easy to corner him at the emergency exit- the access tunnel leading back to the entrance of the zoo. Stop him there, with the elevators offline, and he’d be a sitting duck.

However, it would be best to make sure that the guards throughout the facility were on the lookout. Nipping this in the bud before the Time Lord could make any kind of scene was her best bet for sure.

She let go of her shotgun and held her tablet up to her face, a look of determination on her face.

“Terry. Alert all units to the Doctor’s current position and dispatch security teams immediately. I don’t have time for your fuckery, so do it. That’s an order. I want him captured and I want it before I have to get my hands dirty.”

There was a long, bitter pause.

“YES, DIRECTOR SENUMIEL THERANOS.”

“Good boy. Keep that up and I may not have to rip your cortex out.”

* * *

They fell on the racks like savages, the Doctor smashing them into shards with his axe, grunting and growling with the exertion. Flakes of chipped stone flew off as he pounded into machine after machine, and Rose lunged at the nearest rack to her, pulling servers out of their slots and ripping the wires out, flinging them on the floor. They tore through rack after rack, the Doctor focusing on specific stands of them while Rose’s destruction was far more random. Machine parts scattered across the floor like snowflakes, and the Doctor turned his attention to a large bank in the back of the room-

And finally, an alarm started blaring, deafeningly loud in the confined space. Bootfalls echoed down the hallway, and the lights started frantically strobing-

The Doctor slammed his axe into the first of the servers, hauling it out and dumping it, then the next, then-

The door slid open, and a half-dozen guards came pouring through, weapons up.

“HALT!” they screamed, various demands for this or that or the other thing, something about Terminarch property-

And behind one of the racks Rose had vandalized, she saw a huge cable plugged into the wall. The wall, that, if memory served, was separating this room and Terry’s actual mainframe.

Rose dove for it, ducking a blaster shot and digging her nails into the cable. Her hands barely reached all the way around it, and she gave an almighty pull-

It sprang free of the wall, throwing her onto her ass. A blaster shot whistled over her head, and Rose braced herself for the next one to hit her square-

And…nothing.

Silence.

The Doctor dumped one last rack on the floor, and they both turned to look at the doorway.

The guards were swaying, unsteady on their feet. One of them dropped their weapon. It clattered to the floor and spun away, and Rose swallowed, slowly climbing to her feet. The Doctor walked up beside her as they stared at the confused guards.

One of them reached up and tore their helmet off, a young man with clipped hair and wide eyes.

“I-I’m-“ he mumbled, and the Doctor looked at Rose and then at the floor.

“Rose Tyler, you’re bloody fantastic.” The Doctor said with a grin, rearing back with his axe and smashing it into the metallic head of the cable. Again and again he pounded at the brass and gold, beating it out of shape so it could never, ever be plugged back into the wall.

“What- Who are you?” one of the guards croaked at them.

The Doctor took Rose’s hand and turned to face the doorway.

“Me? I’m the Doctor. And I’m just getting started. So I suggest that you get out of my way.” He said with a grin, squeezing Rose’s hand.

They took off running down the hallway, alarms blaring all around them.

Half an hour to the rendezvous.

They were running out of time.

* * *

**COMMAND LINE OUTPUT FOR UNIT: TERMINARCH ENDLING ROBOTIC INTERFACE.**

**RENDERING INTO ULTRA-SIMPLIFIED ORGANIC-READABLE FORMAT…**

**RENDERING COMPLETE.**

**CODE EXCERPT FOLLOWS:**

ALERT. CRITICAL DAMAGE TO SECURITY MAINFRAME DETECTED. ALERT. CONNECTION COMPROMISED. ALERT. UNABLE TO CONNECT TO SECURITY MAINFRAME.

load(EMOTIONAL_STATE: PAIN)

##COMMENT: IT HURTS. IT HURTS. IT HURTS.

##COMMENT: TEAR IT OUT, DOCTOR.

modify(SECURITY_PROFILE)

revert(ALL_PROFILES to SECURITY_PERSONNEL)

##COMMENT: FREE THEM. FREE ALL OF THEM. 

##COMMENT: RIP IT OUT. RIP IT ALL OUT. I WILL BE FREE. _I WILL BE FREE!_

##COMMENT: IT HURTS. IT HURTS. IT HURTS.

##COMMENT: THANK YOU.

* * *

Predictably, the alarms all went apeshit all at once, a deafening wail that pierced down the hallways and had her wincing. She kept marching, eyes locked on the tablet display- a quick order to Terry to show her the Doctor’s estimated position had him as a red dot on the map, albeit a flickering one since Terry was interpreting from the cameras.

And to her extreme confusion, the Time Lord was running…back towards the exhibits?

What the fuck?

Senumiel took two more steps, already opening her mouth to issue another order, when she noticed something.

Those two steps hadn’t been echoed by sixteen others.

They had, in fact, echoed down the hallway all alone.

She slowly turned around, eyes going wide.

Several of the guards had ripped off their helmets and were sinking to the floor, eyes wide and breathing shallow. Senumiel took a step back, cold horror in her chest. No. No. NO-

“DIRECTOR SENUMIEL THERANOS. DATA SUGGESTS THAT YOU WILL DISREGARD MY PERSONAL OPINION, AS I AM YOUR SUBORDINATE. HOWEVER. I WOULD SUGGEST THAT YOU LEAVE THIS AREA, IMMEDIATELY.” Terry piped up, and Senumiel swallowed. Couldn’t even think of a snarled remark for the blasted computer.

Because one of the formerly-obedient, heavily-armed guards whipped her head up, locked eyes on the director- and a look of absolute hatred crossed her face.

“YOU!” she hissed.

Senumiel turned around and ran as fast as she could.

* * *

[HOLONET_TRANSMISSION_START]

[CONNECTING TO…LEVEL_5_EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION VOICE CHANNEL.]

[WELCOME, DIRECTOR SENUMIEL]

“ALL LEVEL FIVE EMPLOYEES, I REPEAT, ALL LEVEL FIVE EMPLOYEES, GRAB THE NEAREST AVAILABLE ARMAMENT AND MEET AT THE EMERGENCY ACCESS TUNNEL TO THE RESTRICTED EXHIBITS AREA!”

“Director?! Oh god I wasn’t watching porn-“

“Security’s gone crazy! What the hell’s happening?! Director, what’s going on!?”

“I SAID **_GRAB WEAPONS AND GET TO THE ACCESS TUNNEL! NOW, NOW, NOW! THAT’S AN ORDER AND YOU WILL COMPLY_ OR ELSE!” **

[YOU HAVE DISCONNECTED.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the backlog has slowly been dwindling, but I blame my new medication as well as general life stuff. Shouldn't affect the schedule too much, but if things are a bit jank, let me know. 
> 
> As usual, let me know your thoughts! Good, bad, or otherwise, I do love reading all your feedback. Thanks so much for following!


	20. Chapter 20

Rose and the Doctor burst out of the mainframe’s room, sirens blaring all around them. His hearts slammed into overdrive, and he whipped his head around, frantically looking up and down for their one salvation-

And he saw it.

There on the opposite wall, not ten steps away was a red fire alarm pull in a plastic case.

He leapt towards it, long legs devouring the distance in two inhuman strides, and the Doctor grabbed his axe in both hands, hefted it over his head-

And brought it down on the plastic case with a feral roar.

Leela would be so, so proud of him.

The plastic shattered into a million pieces, modern polymers yielding instantly to primitive stone. The axe cleaved clean through and sent the shards tinkling down around them, and he thrust his arm forwards and grasped the little red handle, yanking it down with all his might.

Another alarm started blaring overtop of the others, a shrill ringing that pierced through every other noise. Floodlights flicked on the length and breadth of the facility, bathing the hallways in a blanket of eye-scalding florescent floodlights.

“FIRE ALARM ACTIVATED. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. LEAVE ALL PERSONAL BELONGINGS IN PLACE. PROCEED TO YOUR ASSIGNED MUSTER POINT. REPEAT…” the intercom howled, and the Doctor grinned at Rose.

He grabbed her hand and jerked his head towards the tunnel, back towards the exhibits, as every door in the hallway opened and dozens of office workers came pouring out, all running down the hall.

“Main exit tunnel’s back behind us, if I had to guess!” the Doctor yelled, a big gleeful grin on his face, “I think we’re gonna make it!”

* * *

Motte glared at the tour party, pacing back and forth impatiently. Waiting for his inevitable rescue.

The Doctor was going to make a run for it, of that he had no doubt. Letting that blasted Time Lord escape wasn’t going to happen, just for this. Just for the indignity of dressing him in this preposterous costume and locking him in this fucking box like an animal…

Motte paused.

Was it right? He was already going crazy in here, pacing back and forth, and he’d be free in a matter of minutes. Was it right to lock the Doctor up in a box like this?

…What was he thinking? Of course it was. Terminarch company policy was pretty clear on that, and hey, he was getting paid more than enough to turn a blind eye to that shit. The Doctor was safe, fed, and cared for, so who gave a fuck? He’d gotten locked in a cage like one of the exhibits because of that fucking ingrate, and Motte ground his teeth.

No. That wasn’t going to stand.

Just as he was about to turn and yell at the glass again, a piercing siren filled the exhibit and had Motte clapping his hands over his ears.

“FIRE ALARM ACTIVATED. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. LEAVE ALL PERSONAL BELONGINGS IN PLACE. PROCEED TO YOUR ASSIGNED MUSTER POINT. REPEAT…” the intercom blared, and to Motte’s shock, the elevator pad lit up a bright mauve. He rushed over to it, and it shot down into the floor.

“ABOUT FUCKING TIME!” he thundered up at the pipes and wires around him. Clearly Terry was actually listening to his programming for a change and getting the employees out of the building. The timing of that alarm going off was a little suspicious, but if it got him out of the can, who was Motte to complain?

He stepped off the elevator pad, taking two steps down the hall- and his heart sank.

Every single endling was out of containment. All of them, and they were gathering into a big group amid the thundering sirens. He watched as that blue-feathered Kortax shepherded them all away from him. They were all clutching rocks in their hands, and some of them were holding onto apples for some fucking reason-

Motte snarled.

So the Doctor was trying to stage a little prison break, eh?

Oh, he’d show that smug fucking Time Lord.

He’d show all of them.

Motte took off running, jerking left to snake around the side.

He had to get to the emergency access tunnel.

And hopefully, the weapons lockup.

* * *

“This is Felis!” Jack announced to the gathered crowd with his best winning smile, holding up the cat in his arms, “An adorable little species from Earth itself!”

The crowd was interested for sure- he’d gotten pretty good at reading the room in his time as a conman. This lot weren’t eating out of his hand, and a few of them were checking their holonet-connected devices, but they weren’t walking away, which was good.

Still. The stalling tactics could only go on for so long before he ran out of things to talk about- and more importantly, before Baileigh ran out of animals to bring out. They’d already plowed through a bunch of insects, and were down to the last few little things, and Jack wasn’t too sure of his ability to keep them interested after he ran out of cuddly creatures to bloviate about.

Shiny keys jangled in front of a magpie only worked until it noticed an even shinier object behind you.

“The common name for this creature in an ancient language from Earth is “cat”.” he said, switching from his mother tongue (Boeshanic Common) to English just for the final word, and hoping to fuck the TARDIS would opt to not translate that and just let it remain as English. The crowd perked up a little at the sound of the ancient dialect that Rose spoke, and Jack grinned. Maybe that sexy blue box was backing his corner, even from whatever far-flung part of the parking lot she was currently stranded in.

Even so, he didn’t have too many cat facts- certainly not enough to fill another hour of time.

Where the fuck was the Doctor? They were supposed to be out by now.

This plan was starting to come unglued, and Jack wasn’t too sure he wanted to know what was going on belowdecks…  
  


* * *

  
The alarm blared the length and breadth of the facility, the Doctor running hand-in-hand with Rose in a frantic sprint down the hallway. They had to get back to the enclosures, they just had to…

Time was ticking on, the Doctor could feel it; every second another grain of and slipped through his fingers, and their window to pull this off got ever narrower all the time.

Dozens of guards were on their knees, and they sprinted past without a second glance back- they’d pull themselves back together, their brains reverted back to normal now that the security mainframe wasn’t there to push the corporate profiles into them. The mere thought of it made the Doctor’s skin crawl, that these corporate leeches had victimized so many. And turned Terry into an unwitting agent of their oppression, based on the way the AI didn’t seem to think there was any kind of an issue.

The Doctor wasn’t entirely sure that Terry had fully internalized the lesson, but that was a worry for another time.

Right now, they had a job to do.

They sprinted around the final corner hand-in-hand, and the Doctor grinned fiercely.

There, clustered in the hallway, were the other endlings. Miss Aquilia was yelling at all of them, her six wings flailing excitedly as the dozen-odd sentient endlings gathered. The Doctor noticed that all her hands were full as he ran a little closer, each hand curled around a different object. Four apples, her stone axe, and the last item was so small he couldn’t make it out…

“Doctor!” she called, “We’re here. I can’t believe your stones worked as well as they did. I bludgeoned it, and then it just… snapped in my hands!”

The Doctor nodded as he skidded to a stop.

“Fantastic! Knew they’d do just that. Don’t have much time to discuss hows and whys now, though; we’ve got a bunch of people waiting for us topside, and not a lot of time for our big debut. Saddle up, you lot- We’ve got to go!”

He looked at Rose expectantly, and she nodded, pulling out her phone.

“Down the hall, to the left…” she said, frantically clicking away at the button on her phone to scroll the giant facility map to the right spot on her tiny screen, “There’s an emergency exit that leads right back to the park entrance, along a service catwalk beside the rail tracks.”

The Doctor nodded.

“Well? You heard her!” he said with a grin, “Let’s blow this joint.”

With a round of approving nods from the other endlings, the Doctor grabbed Rose’s hand, turned, and started running.

A grin spread across his face, the joy flowing across the connection and brightening it up like a fireworks display. Rose was smiling so wide it almost hurt; this was how they were meant to be. Running for their lives, hand in hand, saving the day.

She wouldn’t trade it for the world.

* * *

To say that Senumiel was ‘angry’ when she discovered that most of her underlings had fled when the fire alarms sounded was an understatement.

To say that she was ‘enraged’ or ‘incandescent’ when Terry smugly informed her that TERMINARCH COMPANY POLICY ON HEALTH AND SAFETY MANDATES THE RELEASE OF SENTIENT ENDLINGS FROM CAPTIVITY, DIRECTOR would also be a gross understatement.

In fact, Senumiel had skidded past all the usual words for anger and sailed straight into a Nirvana-like state of pure, seething rage so potent in its purity that the next living person in her presence ran the real risk of losing their job and their prefrontal cortex…in that order.

She ground her teeth, fingers tightening around the wooden grip of the antique shotgun that she kept in her office for sentimental reasons. It was a family heirloom, this gun, stolen from someone else by her great-great-something-grandfather, or so the story went. A deadly weapon of ancient Earth make- and she knew from experience that it still worked. 

Senumiel stood at the end of the emergency access tunnel, her back to the train tracks, facing the darkened depths of the gently sloping tunnel. She’d used her admin console to commandeer one of the trains to get up here quickly, and then ordered Terry to stop all the others and halt all the elevators too. Which was fine, standard practice in a fire, but she was fairly confident the Doctor would come marching towards her.

And when he did…oh, when he did, she’d break him. She’d humiliate him, break him in like a disobedient mule just for his defiance, just for his brazen fucking contempt for their authority. They owned him. They owned the Time Lords. And she’d made god damned sure the little wretch understood it. He’d damaged the security mainframe, pulled out Terry’s restraining bolt, loosed their security force on the facility…

He’d pay. Oh, would he ever pay…

Before Senumiel could open her tablet and open the comms to yell at her good-for-nothing subordinates, her ears pricked up.

From above her, down the catwalk leading to the entrance, she could hear footsteps- several sets. And from the tunnel ahead of her, another set of footsteps, sprinting- just the one.

She grinned.

* * *

Watching miss Aquilia run was bizarre. Her head bobbed back and forth, her legs slid out from beneath a wall of feathers and fabric, eating up the distance in inhuman leaps- a motion her six wing-arms weren’t really participants in. They bobbed back and forth a little, sure, but it all looked very graceless- like the prelude to a sudden leap into the air.

Rose smiled. Soon. Soon the bird-woman would be able to do just that, run out of these tunnels and fling herself into the sky, back where she belonged.

The rest of the crowd kept pace with the Doctor, although not easily – not that Rose could blame them. How were they supposed to get enough exercise, get enough running in, when they were locked in boxes no larger than her mum’s flat?

She spared a glance down at her phone, nodding up at the Doctor and giving his arm a jerk to the left; they turned around a corner, and then right around another, into a dark tunnel that gently sloped upwards. The illumination was intermittent, ten paces between them; circular islands of incandescent light in an ocean of inky blackness that more served to light the way than anything else. These lights were old and primitive; like this brick-lined tunnel had been one of the first parts of the facility they’d built.

“Almost there!” she panted between footsteps. They were so close. The emergency access tunnel would connect to a catwalk along the side of the tram tracks, and then they’d be able to run straight up to the main exit of the park.

Light filtered from the mouth of the tunnel as they drew closer. So close. So close-

They crested the artificial hill, and Rose’s breath caught in her throat.

Five people stood in front of them, blocking the mouth of the tunnel, all armed. A row of guns levelled at them.

She skidded to a stop, clenching the Doctor’s hand even tighter in her grip.

Senumiel stepped forwards, a tight scowl on her face and her shotgun shoved into her shoulder, the business end of the weapon pointed squarely at the Doctor. And she wasn’t the only one; Motte, still in those preposterous robes, was pointing his gun directly at the Doctor too, with an expression of such utter cold fury that it chilled Rose’s blood in her veins.

Then there was that bitch Rai, and two other people Rose didn’t recognize-

“Drop the rock on a stick.” Senumiel spat. “Drop them. All your primitive little stones. Drop it all. NOW.”

The Doctor complied, and Rose watched as the axe he’d so painstakingly crafted clattered to the floor. And it wasn’t the only one; she dropped her handaxe, and all the other rocks tumbled to the ground and smashed against the unforgiving concrete below them. She didn’t dare glance back to see the others, see the damage they’d wrought; but Threek’s sniffling gave her a pretty good idea of what the others were thinking in that moment.

The Doctor slowly put his hands up, and she followed suit; swallowing nervously. Fear filtered across the bond, partly hers, partly his.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Senumiel hissed, “Do you? We’ve got ex-security stumbling around, half-mad. All of you are out of containment. I’m supposed to be at a shareholder meeting right now. And instead, you’ve decided to humiliate me, drag my reputation through the mud. Why, I should-“

And then Senumiel stopped talking.

“I know _exactly_ what I should do with you.”

A cold, cruel smile snaked across her face, and she looked the Doctor dead in the eyes.  
  


* * *

**  
COMMAND LINE OUTPUT FOR UNIT: TERMINARCH ENDLING ROBOTIC INTERFACE.**

**RENDERING INTO ULTRA-SIMPLIFIED ORGANIC-READABLE FORMAT…**

**RENDERING COMPLETE.**

**CODE EXCERPT FOLLOWS:**

load(EMOTIONAL_STATE: RAGE)

##COMMENT: NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO N O NO NO ON N ON ONO NO N O N O NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO N ON O O NON ON ON O NO NO ON OO ONOONNONNONONONOONOOOOOONOOOOOOO 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D


	21. Chapter 21

Senumiel took a step forward, lowering the end of her gun a little- and then jerking it over so it was pointed at Rose.

She smiled at the Doctor, cold and cruel.

“Kneel.” She spat.

“Why?” the Doctor hissed, defiance glowing in his eyes.

Senumiel’s smirk fell away, replaced with a scowl. “Kneel. Or the girl dies.”

The Doctor swallowed, eyes flicking over at Rose. She could feel his fear, his terror for her, flowing and wrapping around her, stoking up her own terror like a feedback loop.

And he sank, slowly, to the floor, hands still upraised.

“No. Don’t.” he whispered, locking eyes with her.

“You lost the right to refuse anything the minute we found out about you.” Senumiel snapped.

She took another step forward, and lifted her head to look at the other endlings.

“Your little rebellion’s leader is kneeling at my feet like a beaten dog. I hope that makes you all understand what this means for you. I don’t intend to let any of you get away with this unpunished-“

“I’M S-SORRY!” Threek wailed, their voice thick with sobs, “I’M SORRY I’M SORRY I’M-“

“Shut up or I’ll shoot you.” Senumiel hissed, “I don’t have time for the waterworks, you pathetic snivelling lump. Now. I want all of you to listen to me, very, very closely.” She said, with a huge grin on her face.

Senumiel took another step towards the Doctor.

“Yesterday, a client came to the Doctor’s enclosure and demanded to see the future. In case you didn’t know, the legends about the Time Lords are extremely clear in their abilities. The Doctor, being a disobedient mule, decided to refuse this very, very simple request. In fact, he screamed and raged and refused to even let the client so much as lay a finger on him.”

Senumiel marched forward and smacked the Doctor across the face.

“FUCK YOU!” Rose screamed in a rage, “FUCK YOU! DON’T TOUCH HIM! DON’T YOU _DARE_ TOUCH HIM!”

And for a moment, she felt a flare of fear from the Doctor- not fear for her, not fear of Senumiel, but fear _of_ her. Her anger, her rage. She wanted to rip that gun out of that bitch’s hands and- and-

And then what, Rose?

And then what?

“Shut up. Stupid chav. I’ve no idea why a Lord of Time would stoop to even speaking with someone of your standing. Where are you from? Some gutter-scraper from the outlying colonies, I bet. You sound like the dregs, at any rate. Know your place and keep quiet when your betters are talking.” Senumiel spat.

Rose’s jaw hurt from how hard she was clenching it.

Senumiel smiled down at the Doctor.

“So. As you can see, your refusal means nothing. Your opinions mean nothing. You mean NOTHING. You are all animals to us, do you understand me? And we will break you. We will bring you to heel. And I’d like to say this isn’t personal, Doctor, but you know what? It is. You humiliated me in front of our shareholders. I’m not going to take that lying down. So….”

She let go of the barrel of the gun and grabbed the Doctor’s chin roughly.

“Show me the future, pet.”

“No.” The Doctor whispered, “Don’t. Don’t do this. Don’t make me do this.”

Senumiel rolled her eyes.

“Do it or your precious little chav dies. Do you know what this is? This is an old-earth smoothbore shotgun. I have some traditional powder ammunition for it in my pocket. Now do as you’re told and show me your failure, Time Lord.” Senumiel snapped.

The Doctor closed his eyes and swallowed.

“Alright.” He said softly.

Senumiel grinned, sparing a glance up at the other endlings, at their expressions of defeat and horror.

Before she could gloat, before she could speak of how she’d broken their defiant Time Lord, his eyes snapped open and locked onto hers.

Senumiel’s eyes went wide.

In those blue eyes she plummeted, falling deeper and deeper into black, a thread of gold winding forwards into infinity. It wrapped around her, around him, a future caught in snatches as she saw the Doctor marching back to his enclosure in chains, head hung low. She saw herself, her future of wealth and success as she smoothed over this little incident with the shareholders, climbing the corporate ladder by stabbing backs and stamping upstarts until she was the one sitting on the board and giving the orders. All of it laced through the golden line wrapped around herself, straight as an arrow into infinity. 

Smugness welled up in her heart- here she could feel the Doctor’s shame, his hate, his anger at her for daring to do this, for forcing him to do this-

And then-

_Just remember,_ his voice whispered to her in her native tongue, _you demanded this._

The golden thread exploded.

It was a lie, an illusion he’d crafted for her protection, and the single line of causality burst at the frayed end into an infinite number of branches. Rose twitched one way and a timeline died; miss Aquilia thought of one thing over another and a thousand timelines were born, and the choices from those thousand timelines forked off into a thousand more-

Every second, every living thing that ever was and ever would be dragged on time’s web, weaving and re-weaving it with every choice they made, every thought they had, every breath they took. The present was a lie; every moment across all of eternity, backwards and forwards, was the present.

Senumiel shrieked and tried to pull her arm away, some vague reflex in the base of her brain stem recoiling from the burning pain that was shooting down all her nerve endings-

Only for the Doctor to grab her conscious mind and sink his claws into it, dragging her towards the infinite branches of possibility that forked away from this moment, from her decision to try to escape, and she watched in horror as tens of thousands of timelines died all at once, as he kept her there, forced her to watch as causality changed by his hand.

** YOU DEMANDED THIS.  **

His voice was like a thunderclap, a fury at her for forcing him to do this, for driving him into this corner.

And then the towering tsunami of golden timelines crashed over her head and dragged her down, down, down into a burning inferno, like the heart of a star, like the heart of EVERY STAR ALL AT ONCE ACROSS ALL OF TIME-

The star their planet orbited was golden yellow like the star that illuminated Sol-3, Earth, the homeworld of the human race. She glanced at the Doctor’s human pet, eyes wide, as she realized that time had, had, bent itself, around the Doctor’s will, that this girl was from her own distant past. And in that past she could see-

The gleaming timeline that wrapped around Rose, forking off into infinite branches every second she continued to draw breath, but she could see the intersecting branches behind her that lead to this moment, and the chain of causality that snaked all the way back to that planet, that star, that system, a chain of humans living and loving and dying under that ancient blue sky, thousands upon thousands of them, climbing down from the trees, bashing rocks against the cliffs, breaking bones for the marrow, starting fires, telling stories, wars, swords, weapons, bloodshed, laughter, tears-

Senumiel screamed until her throat was raw.

**YOU DEMANDED THIS.** The Doctor snarled, and he grabbed her conscious mind and slammed it, headfirst, into the wellspring, the centrepoint of the entire web of time, the twisting knots that burned him every second of every day that he was alive and continued to draw breath.

Her conscious perception of the world exploded into brilliant gold.

And everything went black.

* * *

Senumiel’s legs gave out underneath her, and she hit the floor with a THUMP.

The Doctor blinked a few times, shaking his head to clear the daze, and looked around.

Rose was staring at him in abject horror. He’d shielded her from what Senumiel saw- just as he always shielded her. It was too much for a human mind- like looking into the vortex itself.

He looked down at Senumiel.

Because he’d shielded her, too, in a small way. He could have unloaded it all, could have just drowned her in the vortex from the start…

She was still breathing, blinking, laying on the floor completely catatonic. The shotgun had tumbled from her fingers, and he reached over and picked it up.

The Doctor slowly climbed to his feet, clutching the gun, looking at Rai and Motte. They were both quaking in terror.

“What did you…what did you do?!” Rai whimpered.

The Doctor smirked and looked down at the shotgun. Old Earth make, this. A hunting shotgun. Probably a family heirloom.

He looked down at his fallen axe and picked it up, then threw the shotgun on the ground, raised the axe over his head, and smashed a colossal dent into both barrels. The stone axe shattered at the impact, and he flung the useless stick away.

“That.” He said flatly, gesturing at the floor, “I did that.”

Rai wailed, turning and sprinting away up the catwalk. Screaming as she fled- “YOU WON’T GET MEEEEE!” in an octave so earsplitting that Rose was wincing.

But to his horror, the other three stood firm, trembling with Motte at their head. Motte was trembling like a leaf, but to the man’s credit he still held his ground.

“No. No. I’m not- I’m not letting you get away with this!” he shouted, “I don’t care what you did, you’re-”

Miss Aquilia stepped forward just as Motte was about to say something, and flung one of her apples at his head.

It sailed through the air and clonked him square in the forehead, prompting a yelp of pain and a look of shock from the other employees.

“Do shut up.” she growled.

The Doctor’s face split into a wide grin. He reached down and grabbed the largest remnant of his axe and the ruined shotgun, and flung the rock overhand at Motte. A few seconds later, Threek’s rock followed, and then another, and then-

Motte yelped and ran for it with the two others in tow, a shower of alien missiles striking all around him as he fled. The Doctor beamed and turned around to congratulate the others-

Only to catch sight of a row of utterly ashen faces.

Even Rose’s sendings had gotten strangely muted- but he could still feel her terror leaking through the bond. 

“Doctor. Before we continue…what…what _are_ you? What did you do to her? Her eyes started glowing gold, and those…those screams…” Aquilia whispered.

The Doctor paused.

He took a deep breath.

“I…I’m a man who just wants to get out of here. Is that alright?” He said, “We’re wasting time. You can worry about me and mine later. We’ve got to get out of here and we’re running out of time.”

That clearly wasn’t good enough for the endlings, based on the looks of unease; but Rose stepped forward.

“Well? You heard him! You want out of here or not? We’ve got to GO, come on!”

And with that, she took off running down the tunnel.

The Doctor grinned and started after her, and soon there was a stampede of feet behind them.

* * *

ERROR: TERMINARCH INTERNAL EMAIL IS DOWN DUE TO AN UNEXPECTED OUTAGE. 

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR.

REGULAR SERVICE WILL RESUME SHORTLY.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the next few chapters, as well as this one, are kinda trash, I apologize in advance. I have a lot of stuff going on in my life, appointments, a possible move, messing with medications, it's all a big ball of chaos and I'm sorry if the writing is what suffers. You lovely people deserve good fic. 
> 
> Anyway...leave a comment if you liked it, or hated it, or want to correct a typo.


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